Fugitives
by Little Miss Jigsaw
Summary: AU after 3.11 With Arthur Petrelli dead, they thought it was over. But in his wake, Arthur left a prediction of the future; a future Nathan will do anything to achieve, even at the cost of a child's life. Gabriel/Elle. spoilers for ALL episodes of v.3
1. Prologue

well, this is DEFINITELY AU. In this little world, Gabriel/Sylar doesn't kill Elle... And he is still a Petrelli, dammit.

anyway, prologue, lengthy though it may be.

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes. If I did, Elle would be alive, Sylar would still be Gabriel, and still be a Petrelli, Hiro wouldn't be stuck in the past, and Claire would have died during the eclipse....  
I think that's all...  
....Oh, and little Noah would already be on the way.  


* * *

**Fugitives**

Prologue  
_"You've built a love, but that love falls apart. Your little piece of heaven turns to dark."- DHT_

**Sylar & Elle  
California**

The beach, at first glance, was deserted. However, anyone bothering to look beyond a first glance might have caught sight of the two figures lying on the sand, near the water. A first impression of the pair might have been that it was a romantic outing. That first impression would also have been as wrong as it is possible to be. Few "romantic" evenings ended in blood pouring from a clean straight cut in the pretty blond's forehead. A cut put there by her "date". Elle's chest heaved and shuddered as she breathed, teetering on the edge of losing conciousness completely. Had she been in any state to question it, Elle might have wondered why her skin wasn't continuing to split, but the slice in her head, combined with the agony brought on by the sparks of electricity coursing over her skin, Elle wasn't in much of a state to wonder about anything.

Sylar- Gabriel?- stayed poised over her, fingers twitching, as he tried to force them back into position, so he could finish the job. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he finish her off?

He needed too, needed to be rid of her, to be rid of all connections to Gabriel. And Elle was the biggest connection to Gabriel. She made him weak- made _Sylar _weak, not Gabriel. A Gabriel with the will to regain control was not something Sylar could afford. Yet, he still couldn't kill her. Gabriel was still too prominent in his mind, still too much in control. Of course, coming up with perfectly logical reasons as to why this stupid little bitch had to die would do no good. Gabriel was emotional, not logical. All this woman had ever done was manipulate him, and lie to him, yet he couldn't managed to cut just a few more inches, so that he could get to her brain... See what really went on in there, and finally fully master the electrokinesis he'd absorbed from her, before. He _hated_ not knowing how something worked... Both Gabriel and Sylar. How things worked had been his entire life- before and after Suresh showed up. Even with the temptation of the knowledge of how the power worked, he couldn't force himself to move.

"Ga..." Elle attempted to speak, having regained some semblance of clarity. Gabriel- Sylar?- refocused his attention on her, and grimaced at the sight of the blood staining her pale hair. "Ga...briel?"

He understood. She was asking who he was at the moment. To be perfectly honest, he wasn't really sure himself, so he simply nodded, not entirely certain she could even see him, despite her eyes being open.

"You... changed... saw..." she whimpered as a strong current of electricity made its way up her body, "Don't give... up. Ple...ase... Need..." Before she could finish what she had to say, she slipped back into her semi-conscious state.

Still not sure if he wanted to kiss her, or kill her, Gabriel/Sylar stood, and gathered the frail woman in his arms, and started walking alongside the water. He wasn't sure where he was going, or what he was going to do with Elle when he got there, but he'd find out.

* * *

**Dallas, 5 years in the Future**

The pair slipped through the shadows of the abandoned lot, perfectly silent, as if they themselves were shadows. They couldn't afford to be caught, not now. Not with so much at stake. They were good at hiding- especially in plain sight- but running, and actually being able to avoid being caught had always been an issue. This time, they _had_ to keep from being caught. Because this time, being caught meant being dead. They were both out of breath, both exhausted. They'd fled home that morning, and hadn't stopped since. Bennet was certainly persistent; had to be, to be Pinehearst's top agent. Any one that had Bennet put on their trail was usually caught in a matter of hours. So far, they'd eluded capture all day. Though, they were sure Pinehearst hadn't sent their best agent out for _them_. No, the best agent was reserved for something so much more important than them. They just happened to know where that "something much more important" was.

"He'll be okay, right?"

"He'll be fine, ba-"

The rest of the reply was cut off by the gunshot, and bullet that passed directly between them, and ricocheted off a rusted trash bin.

"You know you can't hide from me!" came a shout from somewhere behind them, "Just tell me where he is, and I might let you go!"

"Bullshit," the pair muttered together. Pinehearst didn't _let people go_. _Nathan_ didn't let people go. Ever.

...Not even family.

* * *

**Nathan and Arthur**

**Pinehearst **

**Present Day**

"So, all this is going to happen?"

Nathan observed the sketches his father had lined out across the long coffee table. He picked up one closer to the end, to get a closer look. This one had to be years away...

Arthur nodded, "Or, for now it is. That's the problem with drawing the future. It's only the future if the world stays on it's current track. One little thing shifts, and the future changes entirely. It's a problem that needs to be fixed."

"And that's why you need him?" Nathan pointed to the very last sketch.

"Not him. His ability. It's a rare one, one we haven't figured out how to replicate with the formula."

"C'mon, dad, this has gotta be four or five years from now... _If_ it happens at all," Nathan shook his head at his father's seeming foolishness...

"It _is_ happening, son," Arthur replied, calmly, picking up the sketch book he'd been using, and flipping to a page he hadn't bothered to pull out, "Your brother has made sure of that.... Even if he doesn't know it."

"Pete?" Nathan cocked his head to the side, confused, "I don't-"

Arthur cut him off, "Not Peter, Nathan, Gabriel," he didn't give Nathan a chance to respond before he handed the sketchbook to him, "That happened yesterday afternoon."

Nathan blinked, not even seeing the sketch. He was too busy trying to be sure he'd heard his father right. He didn't _have_ a second brother. Much less one called Gabriel.... Unless... He had rather vague memories of when Peter'd been born- he'd been twelve at the time- and there had been another... _Gabriel_. But there'd been an accident... Everyone had thought he'd died. No one had ever told Peter, there had been no reason... Before he could begin to question this rather alarming news- that his first little brother, Peter's twin, was alive- Arthur spoke, as though he'd read his mind- which he likely had.

"I tried to have your mother kill him," he said it as calmly as if he were commenting on the weather, and not talking about the murder of a newborn child, "after she told me what he would become. But, Angela always did tend to go against my wishes when it came to her sons. She didn't finish the job. Gave him away instead."

After a very long pause, Nathan finally asked, "What did he become?"

Arthur looked at him with an expression that said the answer should have been obvious... "Sylar."

* * *

**Gabriel and Elle**

**Peterson Beach house, California**

The beach house door hadn't even been locked. Gabriel shook his head at the stupidity of some people, but wasn't going to complain. The place hadn't been occupied for a while- likely the family that owned it only stayed a few months out of the year- and it was a perfect place to keep Elle until such time as she woke up, and he figured exactly what he wanted to do with her. He hadn't gotten very far into that particular plan, just yet. He was still stuck on what to do after Elle fried him into oblivion several hundred times, for what he'd done. He hoped to avoid that part, but he wouldn't blame her when she went against his hopes and did a repeat performance of their time in that cell...

As it was, electricity was occasionally arching from her to him, making him twitch. Though, Elle remained unconscious. Gabriel was rather thankful for this, as it gave him time to think. Think about what Bennet had said. He'd come to the conclusion that Elle was right; he should have ignored anything Noah told him. Angela lying, and manipulating him was plausible- even likely-, as was Arthur... but both making the same claim? Especially since Arthur couldn't have known of what Angela told him... But Noah had known exactly which buttons to press. _You really think you two could have a normal life?_ he'd asked. _I read your file, Gabriel, you're not their son. They're playing on your mommy issues to make you into their weapon. _And the final nail in the coffin; _You know exactly who he is, because you helped create him. And you can't undo that.... he killed your father, Elle._

Noah was good, Gabriel had to give him that, but if he ever saw him again, he'd kill him. Or maybe it'd be the other way around. After all, Noah had just planted the seed of doubt, it was him who'd let it grow, until he'd almost... Oh, God, he'd almost killed Elle. _His_ Elle. His little broken angel with her broken watch. He'd fixed her, in that cell, because he'd helped to damage her. Now she was broken again, and this time it couldn't be blamed on her father, or her own guilt... This time, it was all on him. Him, and that damned addiction. Sighing deeply, Gabriel sank as far as he could into the chair he'd placed by the bed on which Elle was currently lying. He'd patched her head up as best as he could, and had washed the blood out of her hair, and off of her leg. Playing the day's events over in his head, Gabriel watched the little blue sparks dancing over Elle's skin. Would she be in the same state she had been in before, when she woke up, or was this just a reaction to having her head cut open? If it was the first, he promised himself, he would do everything within his power to fix it.

Perhaps he and Elle _were_ just damaged goods, perhaps they'd never be whole, but at least they could be put back together enough that the pieces of who they were weren't scattered about like shards of a broken glass.

_Perhaps... _

And with that last thought, Gabriel succumbed to the call of physical and emotional exhaustion, to dream of better things.... For a time, anyway.

----

Elle woke with a start, sitting up straight, her head filled with images of Gabriel- no, Sylar- trying to kill her. Where she expected to feel sand beneath her hands, she felt a soft mattress, where she expected to feel her hair matted with blood, she felt nothing. She almost allowed herself to hope that it had all been a dream... That she'd passed out, after she'd been shot, and was back in her room at Pinehearst... Almost. Until she felt the dull throb of the cut on her head. She reached up to brush her fingertips across the wound, and was met with the feeling of butterfly stitches holding the skin together. Her hand traveled farther up, to her hair. It was clean, as she'd thought. She was still in the same clothes she'd been in all that time- _his_ shirt, his boxers- but her shoes were gone.

Half-curious, half-scared, Elle looked about, only able to really make out half of what she was seeing. This wasn't her room at Pinehearst, that was for sure. It was much to nice, much to homey. Pinehearst's rooms were like the rooms at Primatech: cells, with a few personal touches.

Judging from the light coming in the window, it wasn't too long after dawn, so it hadn't been but a few hours since the incident on the beach. Which, if the view was anything to go by, she was still on. So, if she was here, then where was-

"Elle."

Elle, if it had been possible, would have leaped out of her skin, her muscle tissue, and anything else it was possible for bones to get out of, at the sound of his voice. She spun as quickly as she could manage- but still found that the room continued spinning when she stopped- and attempted to summon her normal glowing globes of energy. She found herself, however, quite incapable of it, as even lighting one little spark sent tendrils of pain spiking through her arms. Dropping the idea of electricity for a moment, Elle focused on finding her target. And there he was, in a chair next to the bed, _asleep_. Which was odd, since she'd very clearly heard him say her name.

"Please... don't..." Elle twitched when Gabriel- if that was who he was- spoke again. He sounded... scared. Torn between curiousity about what was going on in his head, and a strong sense of self-preservation that was telling her to get up and leave now, Elle remained glued in place, watching, waiting for him to say something else. "They killed him," he muttered. There was no fear this time. This time it was pure, unadulterated fury, "Elle, they.... They killed him!" the last came out as a shout, and as he said it, Gabriel shot up in his seat, eyes snapping open, all so fast that Elle couldn't help but let out a surprised scream/squeak, and back away.

Gabriel's eyes focused, and his gaze landed on her. His expression was one of immense relief, and, as if he really had no control over what he was doing, he reached out for her, likely to brush her cheek, but Elle flinched away, as she had the night before. Only this time she didn't stop at flinching. This time, she continued to scoot back until she was met with the headboard of the bed. Gabriel's eyes darkened with disappointment, as he sighed, almost as if in acceptance. He had been expecting this reaction from her. _Good, because he's going to keep on getting it_. Again, Elle attempted to summon up a ball of energy. This time, she was rewarded with the ball, but still the sparks made her hand and arm feel like they were going to fall off. She cried out, her fingers curling involuntarily, as her own sparks turned against her. She let the energy die out, gasping, but she didn't take her eyes off of Gabriel, or Sylar, or whoever he was.

"Elle," he said, moving forward slowly, as if she were a frightened animal that might be scared off with the slightest movement- which, technically, she was, and would be-, "Elle, please just listen to me for a moment," as if she had much choice, "What happened... What I did last night..."

"What you did?" Elle scoffed, "You tried to _kill _me!" She instantly regretted having raised her voice, as it caused her head to throb, and the room to start spinning circles around her. Forcing herself to remain within a reasonable volume, she continued, "You tried to kill me, _Sylar_," she spat the name at him, knowing it would hurt him. Good. He'd hurt her, in more ways than one, and she was never one to leave a score unsettled.

Gabriel grimaced, at the name, "I'm not going to insult you by saying I'm sorry," he echoed his own words from that cell merely days before, "But, what Bennet said... And getting my powers back... It doesn't excuse what I did, what I was going to do, but it was part of why."

Elle remained silent for a long while, simply glaring at him, before finally asking, "Why didn't you finish the job?"

Gabriel seemed to think on his answer for a moment, "I couldn't," when Elle started to ask why, he continued, "I came to my senses... Had a wake up call... I don't know... I just couldn't do it."

Elle knew that was as good an answer as any, and decided it might be best to leave it at that... For now.

* * *

**Angela, Peter, and the Haitian**

**Primatech Facility, Odessa, TX**

"One bullet to the back of the head, and it's done," said Angela, looking at the gun that sat on the table in front of the little gathering.

"You want me to kill him?" Peter couldn't believe what his mother was asking of him. Yes, his father deserved to die, needed to be stopped, but Peter wasn't entirely sure that he could do it. Whether or not he deserved it didn't change the fact that he was family.

"Your father _must_ be stopped, Peter," Angela insisted, "He tried to kill your brothers," Peter twitched at the plural, but remained silent, "Why do you think I poisoned him? Now that Nathan and Gabriel have both switched sides, it's up to us to make sure Arthur doesn't succeed in his plans. That's why I sent you to get the Haitian. Without his powers, your father is vunerable."

"But what about Nathan, and Sy-... Gabriel?"

"If it comes down to them, or us, you'll have to deal with them as well."

Peter shook his head, "Mom, I can talk Nathan out of this, if you'll just give me a chance-"

"Your brother will not listen to reason, Peter," the Haitian finally spoke, "He has seen a chance for more power, and has taken it."

Unfortunately, the normally silent man was right. It didn't make Peter like it any more. "What about Gabriel? He saved my life, mom... Dad just got into his head... "

Angela raised a skeptical eyebrow at her youngest son, "Yesterday, during the eclipse, he and Elle Bishop attacked Claire, and Noah. Claire died, Peter. If it hadn't been so near the end of the event, she might have stayed dead. Noah was nearly killed as well."

"I saw him, in the future," Peter argued, "He'd changed... And he wasn't with Pinehearst," this caught Angela's attention. Peter hadn't told anyone details of what he'd seen in the future, just that the world was going to go to hell. She motioned for him to continue, and so, Peter told her all of what he'd seen.

"For the moment, it makes little difference," Angela finally said, "If we're to succeed, none of that will happen. Your father, and your brothers can't win this fight, Peter. You know better than anyone what happens if they do."

"Your mother is right, Peter."

Peter glared at them both, but sighed in resignation, "So what are we going to do?"... Whatever it was, if he could avoid killing either of his brothers, he would.

------

It was raining. Peter'd always hated the rain; it always seemed to make a bad situation feel worse. Yet today, he was glad for it. Staring at the drops on the windows, and listening to the _tick-tick-ticking_ of the rain as it fell kept his mind off of other things. Kept him from wondering exactly how he was supposed to kill his father- who could unfortunately see the future, now- and possibly his brothers. He was sure he could get his siblings, at least, to listen to reason, or maybe just Gabriel. Nathan had never been predisposed to listening to what his baby brother had to say. Especially when it was advice about listening to their parents. Nathan had always listened, had always been what Dad wanted him to be. Peter had been the rebel, had been the one to defy Dad's wishes. Peter getting into, and graduating from nursing school had been perhaps the biggest crime of the century, in Arthur's opinion. Regardless of whether he'd had his father's respect, or not, Peter was at least proud to say that he, unlike Nathan, had not turned into a puppet, blindly following their parents' wishes.

Unfortunately, it looked as though Gabriel was following Nathan's path.... Attacking Claire- which meant Arthur knew she was the key to the formula- almost killing Noah... But, maybe it wasn't too late. Just maybe.

Suddenly struck with an idea, Peter dug through his pockets to find his phone. He needed to call Matt and find out how to get in touch with Molly...

* * *

Kay, so, chapter one isn't finished yet. Should have it done soon. It will- sorta- follow cannon, with a few changes... Most of them are apparent in this.


	2. Chapter 1

Well, here we are, with chapter one. This is mostly character stuff... There will actually be plot in the next one, I promise... At least, according to the chapter outlines I came up with, there should be. That's provided I don't get distracted by the loveliness that is GabriElle fluff, and forget plot next time too XD .

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. I got caught up in video editing for a while (another of my hobbies, in fact, I've been thinking about doing a trailer for this fic) and then I was waiting on my unofficial beta to lemme know whether he thought a certain scene should be kept, or saved for later. It shouldn't be hard to tell which. Since that scene affected reactions to certain things in the last bit, I wasn't able to finish writing this one until about 5 minutes ago XD

Enough blabbering, on to the story! (no, I still don't own it. If I did, do you think Elle would be dead?)

* * *

Chapter One

**Elle & Gabriel  
Costa Verde, California**

Elle hissed in pain through clenched teeth, involuntarily releasing a few thousand volts into the source of her pain; Gabriel. He was cleaning the cut on her head, and simply _had_ to poke at prod at every turn. Elle was convinced he was doing it on purpose, since it shouldn't have felt like he was ripping the skin off of her skull when all he was doing was dousing her forehead with a good deal of peroxide. It seemed by now, though, her "nurse" was used to the shocks, as he barely even flinched.

"This would go a lot faster if you would quit setting the cotton balls on fire," he commented idly, tossing a charred lump into the trash.

"I wouldn't set them on fire, if you would stop trying to rip my scalp off," Elle snarled. Almost being murdered by the very man who was currently attempting to peel her skin off-or so it felt like, anyway- hadn't put her in the greatest of moods. But, she really had no choice but to allow the "cleaning" to continue. After all; she couldn't run very fast.

"Look, I'm being as careful as I can, but if I don't get all the sand out of it, you'll have more to worry about than a little stinging," Gabriel sighed.

"You should have thought of that before you tried to cut my head off," Elle spat back, grinding her teeth as he continued with his previous task.

"And if you didn't want me helping you, you shouldn't have said what you did," Gabriel muttered in response, seemingly more to himself than her.

"What?" Elle shoved his hands away, and removed herself from her perch on the edge of the sink, "What are you talking about?"

"Last night... What stopped me... You told me not to give up. Said that... That you needed me," there was more than a little hope in his voice, as if he was looking for confirmation of her near-death confession.

Elle wasn't ready to give him that small favor. Nor was she ready to admit she'd been telling the truth. Or that she was relieved that he hadn't just dumped her in a hospital and took off, never to be seen again. So, she did what she did best; she ran. Or tried, rather. She got to the doorway before her leg gave her a big fat "fuck you, bitch" and promptly decided that it was going to take the rest of the day off. Stupid leg.

Gabriel caught her before she hit the floor, and when he pulled her up, they were close enough together that their noses brushed, and Elle felt the oh-so-familiar butterflies stirring in her stomach. Stupid Gabriel. Stupid butterflies. Stupid _feelings._

She wanted to hate him, wanted to scream at him to get away from her, but she couldn't, and she wouldn't. The fact that she couldn't hate him just made her want to hate him more. But looking right at him, face to face, Elle found herself just wanting to pretend that last night had never happened, so they could pick up where they had left off at the Canfield house. Deciding it would be best to_ not_ act on those feelings, she pulled away from her savior- captor? Murderer? Enemy?- and hobbled back to the bed.

When she sat, and looked back at Gabriel, she was surprised to see that he looked hurt. His chocolate eyes darkened, as he stared back at her, and Elle suddenly found herself feeling guilty for having run from him. She banished that feeling instantly. She was _not_ going to feel guilty for not wanting to be touched by the man who'd nearly killed her. _No_, part of her brain said,_ That was Sylar. This is Gabriel._ But that wasn't enough. Sylar could resurface at any point, could return to break her heart again at any second.

Gabriel started to speak, but Elle beat him to it, "Eventually," she said, knowing he would get her meaning, "Just not yet."

Gabriel nodded, eyes brightening ever so slightly, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips. Elle found herself giving him the same sort of smile in return, despite her best attempts to do otherwise.

-------

Gabriel thumped his head against the kitchen door frame, trying to decide what to do. Whether he liked it or not, Noah _was_ right about the fact that his parents were manipulating him, using him to get at the other. He hated being a puppet almost as much as he hated not knowing how something worked. So what to do? He could go back to Arthur, explain why they didn't have Claire, get Elle into the infirmary, and go back to following Daddy's orders. To be quite frank, he didn't like that idea. Another option would be to go to Angela, and hope that he and Elle weren't attacked upon arrival, and go back to following Mommy's orders. Another idea he didn't like. Then there was the third option, and the variations of it; take Elle, and run, avoid his "family", and stay out of the way of their little feud; take off, leave Elle, and avoid his family, or take Elle, put an end to the little war between Primatech and Pinehearst, and _then_ disappear.

The third option(s) were more like it. Though, he preferred the variations that included the beautiful blond sleeping in the bedroom. The idea of leaving her was... He didn't want to say "unbearable" because he _could_ bear it. But he certainly wouldn't be happy about doing it. The electrifying little woman had somehow managed to worm her way into the weary watchmaker's barely-there heart, and she seemed determined to stay there.

_If you dumped her somewhere_, said a voice in the back of his mind, that reminded him greatly of Sylar, _You'd soon forget about her. You'd be free of her influence...Think about it. She's manipulated you as much as Arthur, and Angela, and everyone else._ Gabriel shook his head fiercely, in an attempt to banish the thoughts. Elle had manipulated him in the past, but despite what she'd said in the cell- _I only saved you, so we could use you... Like a lab rat_- he found himself wanting desperately to believe that she felt something for him. He had seen her, just before Bennet had killed him, during the eclipse- _No! Nooo!_- had seen the very real despair in those entrancing blue eyes as the blade of the box cutter had been drawn across his throat. And he'd seen the very real relief when he'd healed, and let her out of the elevator; when he'd held her tightly, and kissed away her tears. He wanted that back, and remnants of Sylar weren't going to keep it from happening.

Elle had said earlier that she would eventually forgive him; he just had to hope that eventually came soon. Soon, because they couldn't stay in this house forever, because they needed to do _something_ about the mess everyone had gotten themselves into. Gabriel groaned, and put a bit of extra force into the next meeting between his head and the door frame. Things had been so much simpler when he'd just been a watch maker. Hell, things had been simpler when he'd been Sylar.

Thankfully, _that_ train of thought was interrupted by the insistent ringing of his phone. Pulling said phone from his back pocket, he took a glance at the name displayed on the screen; Arthur. _Oh, great. Just what I needed._ Knowing that this conversation wasn't likely to end well, Gabriel flipped the phone open. "Hello, Arthur."

"Where the hell are you?" Well... Arthur certainly didn't sound pleased, "You should have gotten Claire by now, why haven't you brought her back here?"

The reminder of the failed mission also reminded Gabriel of what Bennet had said... _playing on your mommy issues, to make you their weapon._ So, in a perfectly calm and collected voice- that was in a tone previously only used by Sylar- he said, "Sorry, Arthur, we got a little distracted. Claire's gone."

"Gone? Gone where!?" Oh, yes, daddy was angry. Oddly, it only served to make Gabriel calmer. He was done being a puppet.

"Don't know, don't care," the slightest of smirks tugged at his lips, as he heard Arthur trying to keep a hold on his temper, via deep breaths. "I had an interesting chat with Bennet, though."

That got Arthur's attention, "What did he say?"

"Nothing of importance, really... Except that you and my mother think you can toy with me, and manipulate me," Gabriel examined the dirt under his fingernails for a moment, before continuing, "So, _are_ you just playing me, Arthur?"

Arthur was silent for a long while, before he finally responded, "Look, we'll deal with Claire later. For now, you and Elle just come back. We need to talk."

"Oh, there's no doubt of that, but I won't be bringing Elle back with me," not when Elle could be used as leverage, "And our conversation won't be on your terms, believe me."

"Now, Gabriel, hold on a moment, son-"

"I'll see you soon, _Dad_." With that last sarcastic remark, Gabriel snapped the phone shut, thus ending both his conversation and his employment with his father.

-------

Elle enjoyed the feeling of the hot water running over her skin; it eased aching muscles, and cleared her head. Thankfully, she had stopped sparking at random, and was able to take a shower without fear of being electrocuted.

She had listened to Gabriel's conversation with his father- pretending to be asleep was one of her special talents- and wondered what he'd meant when he'd said he wasn't bringing her back with him. The part of her brain that, as a child, had been reserved for belief in unicorns, and the Easter Bunny told her that he just wanted to keep her safe.

The part of her brain that, starting at age ten, laughed at belief in unicorns, and the Easter Bunny told her that if she really believed that, she was an idiot.

Elle wasn't sure which half of her brain she wanted to listen to. She knew which she _should_ listen to, but not which she _wanted_ to. She wanted very badly to believe that Gabriel was fully in control again, but she couldn't ignore the possibility that Sylar could regain his hold at any point in time, and then it was lights out. The smart thing to do would be to run while she could. Gabriel hadn't taken any measures to make sure she couldn't leave. In fact, whenever he left a room and returned to find her still there, he would let out a sigh of relief, as if he were afraid she was going to vanish the moment he let her out of his sight. That routine had been going on since she'd awoken that morning. It was now early evening. Perhaps by now Gabriel had learned that she wasn't going to up an vanish at the drop of a hat.... Even if her common sense told her she _should_.

Deciding she wasn't going to dwell on it any longer, Elle set about normal showering tasks, purposefully keeping her mind blank as she did so. By the time she was finished, she had successfully banished any and all thoughts that had to do with her serial-killer lover. Stepping out of the shower wrapped in one of the few towels that had been left on the shelves, Elle regarded the clothes she'd been wearing with disgust. They were covered in blood, and dirt, and sweat. The idea of putting them on again, now that she was fully clean was revolting. _I think I'll take my chances going through the closets..._ Pulling the towel tighter around herself, she pulled the bathroom door open, and was greeted with the sight of Gabriel standing there, hand poised to knock, a bundle of clothes tucked under one arm. For a moment, Elle forgot that only the night before he'd tried to kill her, because he looked so flustered, and there was actually a slight blush on his face.... For a moment, he was the Gabriel she'd met a year ago... For a moment, she felt those feelings from earlier- the ones that said in a taunting voice 'you know you love him'- come back...

"I, uh, found you some clean clothes," he pointed to the ball of fabric.

It was as if he'd read her mind. She certainly _needed_ clean clothes. The dirty ones weren't even hers. Hers were still scattered about the floor of the Canfield house.... And now she was back to _that_ line of thought. Looking her knight-in-a-bloody-shirt up and down, she remembered the feeling of his fingers running over her skin, lips crushed together in constant desperate kisses, crying out his name when...

_No...Don't start this again_, her few logical brain cells told her, _you'll get hurt ...__**again**__._

But Elle Bishop had never been a logical person. She had, for the better part of twenty-five years, operated solely on instinct. "I just want you to know," she said to Gabriel, meeting his eyes, "This doesn't mean I've forgiven you."

"Elle, wha-"

His question got no further then that, for Elle grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and pulled him into a rough kiss. Gabriel offered absolutely zero resistance, returning the kiss with equal force. Grinning against his lips, Elle, with a short hop, lifted herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist, not caring that her towel was now bunched around her hips.... She wasn't going to need the cover it provided anymore anyway.

* * *

**Peter Petrelli**

**Burnt Toast Diner, Midland, TX**

Peter tapped his fingers against the table as he tried to decide what to do. He'd contacted Molly, and after much convincing, had gotten her to tell him where Gabriel was; Costa Verde. Now he needed to decide: go straight to Pinehearst, and take care of Arthur, or take a slight detour to Costa Verde, and hope he could get his brother to see reason. He looked over his hands, at the still-healing cuts, and bruises. Sure, there were less painful ways to save someone's life, but regardless of how he'd done it, his brother had saved him. Peter, with his "save everyone" complex, as Nathan might have called it, felt compelled to return the favor.

So, with his mind made up, Peter stood and walked out of the diner. The waitress would likely be coming back with the coffee he'd asked for, but he really didn't have time to wait. The Haitian was outside waiting. It was time to get this show on the road. _Guess I get to piss mom off, again._

------

He really hated flying. Flying in the normal way, that is. He loved flying via abilities, but it was beginning to look as though that wasn't ever going to be a possibility again. At least the flight wasn't going to last very long. They'd be landing in Costa Verde soon- Peter had made the excuse of wanting to check on the Bennets before going on to Pinehearst (though he got the feeling the Haitian knew he was lying)- and then he'd be off to the address Molly had given him, hopefully without the Haitian interfering.

-----

**Costa Verde, California**

_Score one for me_, Peter thought, as he walked along the beach, enjoying the cool morning air. He'd given the Haitian the slip in the airport- funny, Claire had told him once about having done the same thing- and now had his destination in sight. His good mood was dampened, however, when he reached the steps leading up to the front door of the house, and noticed the blood drops on them. It couldn't have been Gabriel's, he'd have healed before the blood could fall...

So who was here with him, and was whoever it was alive? Peter quietly climbed up the steps, tested the doorknob. Good, it wasn't locked. Not entirely sure if he should sneak, or not, Peter opened the door, and stepped inside.

There were drops of blood on the carpet that led to the couch, beside which was a mass of bloody dishtowels, and an opened first aid kit. So, whoever was hurt, Gabriel had at least tried to help. That put Peter's mind at ease... a bit, anyway. He went further into the room, looking for any signs of his brother, or whoever was with him- likely Elle, he realized... He'd been working with Elle when he'd gone after Claire- but saw nothing. Nor did he hear anything, until the door near the back of the room opened, and Gabriel stepped out, buttoning his shirt.

Peter started to say something, but by the time the first syllable left his lips, he found himself pinned in place, an intangible force pressing down on his throat, preventing him from speaking. The hold seemed to be more a reflex than anything else, for the moment Gabriel actually looked at who he was strangling, Peter felt the pressure on his throat lessen, until it was gone completely... Though he still couldn't move.

"Peter?" He spoke quietly, and glanced back at the door he'd come through, "Here to make me pay for coming after Claire?" the sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.

"No," Peter forced out, "I'm here to talk to you."

Suddenly, his limbs were free again, "Alright then, talk."

First things first... Peter nodded towards the bloody towels, "What happened?"

"Elle. Bennet shot her, and... " there was something else, but he didn't seem willing to say it.

"Is she okay?" Peter wasn't entirely sure _why_ he was worried about Elle's safety. Whereas Gabriel had at least saved his life once, Elle had done nothing but enjoy toying with him for several months. And damn did that electricity sting.

Gabriel nodded, a slight smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth. Peter wasn't sure he wanted to know what that meant. "She's fine. _Why_ are you here, Peter?"

All that time Peter had spent trying to decide if he was really going to do this, and he hadn't even thought of what he was going to say. Well, may as well dive in then, "You've gotta stop following Dad's orders," he blurted. Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him, but let his little brother continue uninterrupted, "What he's doing, it's gonna destroy the world. When I went to the future, I saw you. Pinehearst destroys everything. Your home, your family."

That peaked Gabriel's interest, "Family?"

Peter nodded, "You get married, have a son... Future-me sent me to get your ability, and when I got there... Pinehearst sent Claire, and her partners after me. They killed the boy, you blew up the entire city."

Gabriel was looking at Peter as if he'd sprouted a second head. The stare continued for a moment, before he glanced again at the door he'd come out of. He muttered something Peter couldn't make out, before returning his attention to his apparently two-headed brother. "Who was I...?" the question trailed off, but Peter knew what he meant.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I only saw you, and Noah." Another double-take. Peter was still trying to wrap _his_ mind around that one, too. After several seconds of slow blinking- apparently Intuitive Aptitude didn't allow one's brain to quickly process knowledge that one's future-self is married, with a kid- Gabriel moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table.

"I wasn't planning on going back to Pinehearst, Peter," he said "But I'm not going back to Primatech, either. _Both_ of our parents think we're minions to be directed, and ordered around. I'm sick of it."

Peter really couldn't argue with that. Not when that was the way he'd felt his entire life. "So what're you gonna do?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Run, with Elle... just stay out of the line of fire... Stop Arthur... I hadn't really decided yet. What are _you_ gonna do?"

"...Mom wants me to kill Dad," and he'd made up his mind to go through with it. But why his mother wanted _him_, powerless as he was, to be the one to do it, he didn't know. He _knew_ the Haitian could block specific people, so someone with abilities would be an advantage... "And Nathan, if I have to."

"Can you?" Gabriel looked as though the very idea was ridiculous, "You're not a killer, Peter."

"I killed you," Peter pointed out.

"Didn't take," Gabriel retorted, reminding Peter of their confrontation in Kirby Plaza. Who'd have thought that less than a year later, they'd be sitting in the living room of a beach house having a "civil" conversation? "So what's the plan? Dad can't die..."

"That's what the Haitian is for... If he's not on his way there to do it himself right now," _he did want to, after all_, "I wasn't supposed to come here. Mom thinks you're a lost cause."

"Who's a lost cause?" a drowsy voice inserted its self into the conversation. Peter looked for the source, and saw Elle standing in the doorway in nothing but a long t-shirt. There was gauze around her leg- _well, he said Bennet shot her_- and... Peter almost couldn't believe his eyes... A long narrow slice along the middle of her forehead, held together by a long series of butterfly stitches... It looked like someone had attempted to Sylar her brain. Peter's eyes darted to his brother, then back to Elle.

"What-" he pointed at Elle's head, "what happened?"

"It doesn't matter," Elle said, before Gabriel could explain, "Momentary relapse. Who's a lost cause?"

"Me, apparently," Gabriel replied, looking confused by her casual way of explaining her almost-Sylar Haircut.

Peter was confused as well. Little more than a month ago, Elle had been determined to make sure that Sylar paid for the murder of her father- she hadn't seemed concerned with the other murders, just that of her father- now here she was brushing off her own attempted murder as a "momentary relapse" that "didn't matter". Of course, was he really any different? Sylar had tried to kill him more times than he had Elle, and he was looking for his _help_. Though he didn't know which was worse: asking someone who'd tried- and succeeded- to kill you for help, or sleeping with them, since that was what the vibes coming from both of them were telling him had happened. He had half a mind to ask how in the hell _that_ relationship could possibly work, but he restrained his curiosity. Instead, he decided to get back to business.

"So, was mom right, or are you gonna help me?"

"Help you and the Haitain kill Dad, and possibly Nathan, and take down Pinehearst?" Peter nodded, "Three against two. My kinda odds..."

"Four against two," Elle chimed in before Gabriel could really say yes or no, "If you're going, so am I."

"No," Gabriel stated calmly, before continuing as though she hadn't spoken, "What's the plan? Go in powers blazing?"

"No?" Elle didn't sound in the least bit happy. Peter found himself wanting to back as far away from her as he could. After all, he could no longer heal, and there was a very loud electrical hum coming from the small blond's entire body.

"No," Gabriel repeated, then looked at Peter, expecting an answer to his question. Peter didn't even want to try to think of anything to say; he was saving any and all thoughts for how to get out of the way of the electrical blast that was sure to come soon. Very soon, if the blue sparks coursing over Elle's skin were anything to go by.

"Why not?" Elle asked through clenched teeth. "What gives you the right to say that I can't help?"

Gabriel looked at her- Peter wondered why he wasn't running for his life right then- and said, "Because Arthur knows what buttons to press... Knows how to get to me. He would use you as leverage in a heartbeat."

This answer seemed to calm Elle some; she was no longer visibly sparking, but the hum was still emanating from her. When she spoke, it was in a soft voice, "We do this together, remember?"

Peter got the distinct impression that she was referring to something that had happened between them, before, and wisely decided to pretend that he wasn't there.

Gabriel shook his head, "Not this time... Arthur wouldn't hesitate to kill you, Elle, and I... I couldn't handle that. Not after..." he trailed off after that, but Elle seemed to catch his meaning, for she moved forward, and flopped on the couch with a resigned sigh.

"This is for expecting me to listen to you without an explanation," she said idly, before releasing a jolt of electricity in Gabriel's direction. It was a larger dose than Peter had ever received from her, and yet Gabriel managed to let out not a sound beyond a pained groan, and made no move to protect himself.

Maybe whatever had happened with Claire's ability- not being able to feel pain- was happening to Gabriel as well... Or maybe he was just used to being used as a power conductor. Peter wasn't sure he wanted to know. So, he decided to lay out the details of the plan, instead of dwelling on the very clearly deranged relationship that was developing between his companions.  


* * *

See? Allllll character stuff =P I am going to attempt to keep things KINDA cannon... since, aside from Sylar's return, Elle's death, and him not being a Petrelli, I happen to like this volume's story XD. Though it will likely have NOTHING to do with the REAL Fugitives (volume 4). As for my taking the same title for this as for v. 4: it fits- you'll see- and I am completely wretched with names XD

Now, hit that nice little review button, and you'll get a date with Gabriel.... Or Sylar, if you're into that sort of thing. Or, if you're a guy, you get a date with Elle =P


	3. Chapter 2

Wow... I got this done fast. In fact, I wrote all but the first section today. XD... but then, a lot of it is scenarios from the show, reworked to fit my designs. =P

to Serias and Catyuy, who suggested I post this on livejournal: As freakish as this may sound... I don't have an account on LJ.

Thanks to those who have reviewed so far... Keep at it, cuz when I know people are liking a story, I tend to write more =P

* * *

Chapter Two

**Gabriel, Elle, and Peter**

**Costa Verde, California**

Gabriel got the distinct feeling that Elle was still mad at him. Not for the Sylar incident, but for telling her that she couldn't come with him, and Peter. She hadn't moved from the couch since he and Peter had agreed on the best course of action, and she'd had her bottom lip stuck out in a pout the entire time. Gabriel had muttered a quick "I'll be back soon" to her, and was now heading out the door, with Peter. He was just about to step outside when he heard Elle call for him to wait. He turned and discovered that she had crossed the room rather quickly, because she was right behind him, by the time he got turned all the way around.

Elle bounced on the heels of her feet for a moment, as if she were trying to decide if she wanted to say what was on her mind. Finally she looked up and met his gaze, "Don't get yourself killed, Gabriel... Please."

Gabriel couldn't help smiling at her, "I'll do my best." He wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly she was in his arms, their lips fused together in a desperate kiss. Gabriel pulled her flush against him, deepening the kiss, tightening his hold on her. Both forgot that Peter was standing right behind them.

Finally, the need to breathe forced them to separate. "And don't let anyone convince you you're anyone other than who you are," Elle panted.

"And who am I?"

"A good man, in spite of everything," she said it with such confidence in the fact that she was right, Gabriel couldn't bring himself to argue with her. So, he settled for kissing her again, softer this time.

"I'll keep that in mind," he paused, and looked around the room for a moment, then added, "If I'm not back in a few days, I want you to get out of here... Find someplace safer to stay."

"What happened to not dying?" Elle protested.

"I _can't_ die... Doesn't mean I can't get caught. Or have my powers taken, and then be killed..." he should have quit at being caught, because now Elle looked worried. "Just... Please, if I don't come back, find somewhere safe."

Elle nodded reluctantly, and started to say something, but was interrupted by Peter clearing his throat loudly. Gabriel wanted to ignore his brother, and continue his chat with Elle... After all, it could be the last time he saw her. Besides, he was enjoying the soft side of her. After the evening before, she had stopped flinching every time he touched her, hadn't hesitated to initiate contact. She hadn't yet said she'd forgiven him, but she was at least acting as though the incident on the beach had been exactly what she'd told Peter: a momentary relapse, that didn't matter. To Gabriel, it mattered- it mattered a lot, and he swore to never let his guard down again- but Elle had seemingly put it out of her mind. Still wanting to ignore his brother, Gabriel leaned down to give Elle one last kiss- which was meant to be quick, but she "forced" him to stay in contact longer- and muttered, "Goodbye Elle." With that, he straightened, and stepped out the door with Peter, and refused to look back.

Peter and Gabriel remained silent for several long minutes, as they walked along the beach towards the highway. Apparently, Peter couldn't stand the silence- and to be honest, it _was_ kind of awkward-, "So, how did that happen? You've known her what, a week?"

"A year, actually," Gabriel replied, "I met her after I killed for the first time... Tried to kill myself. She saved me."

"Ah.... What happened with the 'momentary relapse'?" Peter had obviously been dying to find that one out.

"Bennet got to me... I... _Sylar_ needed to find out the truth," Gabriel looked towards his brother, "But you know all about that feeling, don't you?"

Peter suddenly found great interest in his feet. He nodded reluctantly. Gabriel actually felt sorry for him. While on one hand it was nice to have _someone_ who knew exactly what his ability did to him, on the other, he also knew that Peter was _not_ a killer. On some base level, Gabriel _was_. Even after learning of his true lineage, and deciding not to let his power rule him, he'd still killed without hesitation- the doctor at Pinehearst, several guards on his way in... He'd very badly wanted to kill Suresh- and he likely would again, if the situation called for it. But Peter... Gabriel prided himself in being able to understand how people worked, and Peter, when it came down to it, just wasn't built for murder.

And amidst all those thoughts, a question he'd been meaning to ask for a while suddenly came to mind, "Which of us is older?"

Peter looked at him as if he didn't really understand the question for a moment, before replying, "You, according to mom... by half an hour."

Gabriel could have been mistaken, but he thought he heard a bit of a "go figure" tone in Peter's voice... as if he was annoyed with _still_ being the youngest, despite having discovered a second brother.

* * *

**Angela, Claire, and Hiro**

**Primatech**

Angela could dream the future, and was therefore not often surprised by much. However, her granddaughter, and Hiro Nakamura suddenly appearing on her desk caught her very much off guard. Apparently, they were as surprised by it as her, because for a moment, they seemed to not know where they were. Angela, whom had shoved herself away from her desk, willed her heart to slow down; she didn't need to be dying of a heart attack just yet.

"Claire," she said rather calmly, all things considered, "Hiro."

The two clambered off the desk- knocking things off as they went- both looking panicked. Before Angela could even ask what was going on, Hiro blurted, "Arthur Petrelli has the catalyst." He looked like he was about to cry.

Angela blinked at them for a moment. Surely she had misheard...

"He said it's over. He won," Claire said, grinding her teeth, and proving that Angela had in fact heard correctly.

"How did he get it?" Angela forced her voice to remain calm and steady. She wasn't about to let either of them see her upset.

"He took it. From me," Hiro replied, and proceeded to explain in great detail his and Claire's little adventure in the past, ending with Arthur taking the catalyst, and nearly Hiro's power. Had it not been for a well aimed rock from Claire, they might not have made it back.

"This... complicates things," Angela finally said, still struggling to maintain her cool exterior, "But Peter is already on his way to deal with Arthur," or so she hoped. She focused her attention on Claire, "We should get you home, dear, before your father loses his mind."

* * *

**Pinehearst**

Peter, Gabriel and the Haitian strode through the front doors of the Pinehearst building, gathering the attention of the two guards that stood near the elevators that would take the group to Arthur's office, as well as the labs. The guards looked at each other for a second, before the one nearest them stepped forward.

"ID plea-" he didn't get farther than that, before Peter had the gun he was carrying aimed at the guard's head. Gabriel wondered for a moment if Peter was really going to shoot the man. But the Haitian stepped forward, and with nothing more than a hand pressed to the man's forehead, the guard was down.

The second made to grab his radio- likely to call for help- but didn't get very far, as Gabriel sent a globe of electricity his way; using Elle's power was _fun_. He didn't get off as lucky as his companion; he was dead. Both the Haitian and Peter gave him odd looks, but he only shrugged, and with a nod of his head, telekinetically pushed the button to call the elevator.

------

In the lab, Mohinder was putting the finishing touches on the formula. Tracy, Nathan, and Arthur stood back, watching.

"We'll need fifty doses to start out," Tracy said, with a smug smile, "One for every marine." the latter was a half-question directed at Nathan.

"We'll start out with just one first," Nathan said, as Mohinder moved towards them, preparing a dose of the finally-complete chemical, "Gotta make sure this stuff works," he looked at Mohinder for a moment before adding, "No offense."

Mohinder didn't even grace him with any reply beyond a short glare. Arthur wasn't even paying attention to the exchange. There was something on the very edge of his telepathic hearing that didn't belong. Blocking out the sounds of the lab, he tried to concentrate on the thoughts he was hearing. _Dad's office. We'll wait here._ Peter. He should have known Angela would send someone after him... But he hadn't thought it would be _Peter_ of all people. She could have at least sent someone who had the sense to shield their thoughts- which took no special ability, just a strong mind- so he didn't know they were coming.

Nathan caught on to his father's apparent distraction, "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Arthur replied, "Just a minor inconvenience," he turned to walk out, but paused a moment to ask, "Has everything else been taken care of?"

"Yes," Nathan replied, "He should be there soon."

"Good. Call your first Marine. I'll be back."

-------

Gabriel watched from his hiding place as Arthur entered the office. Both he and the Haitian were out of sight- element of surprise and all.

"Peter," said Arthur, "I'm glad you're here. Nathan and I were jus-"

The click of the gun cocking as Peter raised it was enough to shut Arthur up. Gabriel's fingers twitched; it would be so easy to just kill Arthur right then... kill him, take _all _his powers. He knew Arthur could teleport, read minds, time travel, see the future. Even with the Haitian preventing Arthur from using any of those abilities, Gabriel knew they were there, could feel them. _Sylar wants to come out to play_, that dreaded voice in the back of his mind said. He did his best the stop the urge to let his power take over (_it would only be just this once, Gabey... Just this one teeny little time_). He knows he can't let Sylar come back. He might not regain control, and if that happened, the first place Sylar would go, after taking Arthur's powers, would be to Elle... To kill her, to get rid of his one pesky little weakness.

"Don't be ridiculous," Arthur's voice brings him out of his inner struggle, into the real world. Arthur waved his hand, expecting the gun to go flying from Peter's grip. No such luck.

There was such confusion apparent on Arthur's face that Gabriel found it hard not to laugh. Peter jerked his head in direction of the Haitian, whom had emerged from the shadows. Now fear replaced confusion. For the first time, in the short time Gabriel had known him, Arthur Petrelli was _afraid_.

"So," Arthur said, voice shaking slightly, "You're here to kill me."

"I'm here to stop you," Peter replied. Gabriel was beginning to get the feeling that he, as he had thought at first, was going to have to step in, and do what Peter couldn't. "Creating abilities... Giving them out like this. It's gonna destroy the world."

"In your opinion," Arthur shot back.

It wasn't an opinion, Gabriel thought, from what Peter had told him. The planet splitting in two... That pretty much sounded like the end of the world from _anyone's_ point of view. "I've seen it," Peter insisted, "This ends _now_."

Arthur took a brave step forward, and for the first time, Gabriel noticed the gun sitting on the bookshelf... right within Arthur's reach, now. He tensed up- he _knew_ he was going to have to save Peter's ass at some point during this little mission. "I don't think you have the nerve to kill me, Peter."

_He doesn't_. Gabriel thought. _But I do. And I will._ But Peter surprised him when he didn't lower the gun, and his finger started to tighten on the trigger.

* * *

**Elle Bishop**

**Costa Verde**

Elle tossed and turned as she tried to sleep. It was doing no good, thought. Her mind was too abuzz with worry. Staring up at the ceiling, she sighed in frustration. She still couldn't believe Gabriel hadn't let her come with him. Up until the point where he'd disappeared from sight, she'd been hoping that he would turn around and tell her to come with them, anyway. In fact, up until several minutes before, Elle had been toying with the idea of following them, to help. She had decided against it, though, when she realized that Gabriel was right. Arthur wouldn't hesitate to use her against him, or kill her. Hell, he wouldn't hesitate to use Gabriel against _her_. From what Elle had seen, both Mr. and Mrs. Petrelli loved to use people against each other. It was a screwed up family, that was for sure. The only part of it that she wanted anything to do with was Gabriel. And she could at least be nice to Peter. But Gabriel..._Her_ Gabriel. She didn't know when exactly he'd become hers, but now that was how her mind chose to view him.

She still hadn't _fully_ forgiven him for what had occured the other night, but she was at least on her way to that point. Enough so that she had stopped trying to avoid him. Enough that she was truly afraid of what would happen if he didn't come back. Without Gabriel, she was truly alone in the world. Daddy was dead, both Primatech and Pinehearst viewed her as a traitor. Gabriel was all she had. If she lost him, there was no one else.

And however much she liked to pretend she was tough, the one thing in the universe that truly frightened Elle Bishop was being alone.

* * *

**Pinehearst**

_Come on, Peter, before I do it for you,_ Gabriel thought impatiently. The Haitian was struggling to keep Arthur's powers suppressed, he'd said as much.

"Think about this, son. You don't have to pull the trigger. The formula is finished, Nathan's here... We can give you your abilities back, and start over."

"No," Peter hissed.

"Peter, shoot him now!" the Haitian shouted. Gabriel could see that he was about to collapse.

"No, wait!" Peter insisted, "Just... Wait."

"That's your problem Peter," Arthur said, "Too much thought, not enough action.... How could _you_ be my son?"

Everything happened so quickly after that... Arthur grabbed the gun from the shelf, and aimed it at Peter. Both pulled the triggers at the same time. Peter's shot missed. Arthur's would have hit, had Gabriel not stepped into the open, and stopped it. The bullet hovered a few inches from Peter's face, which seemed to confuse Arthur, until he spotted the reason behind the floating bullet.

"Hello Arthur," said Gabriel, enjoying the fear that suddenly showed in his father's eyes.

"Gabriel? You're... here..." He sounded as if that was the last thing in the world he'd wanted.

"I am," Gabriel replied, "No place I'd rather be than with family. But then, you're not much of a part of this family, are you?"

"Of course I am."

"No, you're not. You've tried to kill all of us, at one point or another. You're not family, Arthur," Gabriel looked at Peter, "I told you you're not a killer, Peter. But I am." And with that, the bullet that had so nearly killed Peter was sent flying towards Arthur. It hit him squarely between the eyes; Arthur Petrelli was dead before he hit the ground.

Peter let out a sigh of relief, and the Haitian sank to the floor, exhausted. "It's over," said Peter, staring at his father's corpse.

"Not yet, Peter," Gabriel said, "We have to deal with Nathan."

Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and Nathan stepped in. "Dad?"

He didn't even have the chance to see the intruders before Gabriel had him pinned to a wall. "Gabriel, don't!" Peter shouted, as if he was afraid Nathan was going to get Sylared. It was tempting... Gabriel had always wanted to fly. He made no move to scalp his elder brother, though. Both because he was refusing to let Sylar out to play, and because Peter clearly wanted to attempt to talk Nathan out of whatever he had planned. However, he didn't let Nathan off the wall. Keeping him there, while he busied himself with other things wasn't too hard.

He payed little attention to the conversation going on between his brothers; a piece of paper on his father's desk had captured his attention. It was a sketch of himself, and Elle at the Canfield house, and beneath it were more sketches. All of himself and Elle... And... That could only be the boy Peter had mentioned. He flipped through them all, and one in particular interested him, this one was just of Elle, sitting alone, with something in her hand. Gabriel could easily guess what it was, judging from the other sketches. But the date on the calender in the background was what surprised him. That was barely a month from then. Which meant that... _Oh, shit. Shitshitshitshit... _Before his mental exclamations could become verbal, the door flew open again, this time apparently made to do so by a large blur.

When the blur stopped moving, it revealed its self to be Matt Parkman, and some woman Gabriel had seen only once before... The speed ability had to've been hers, because he knew Parkman read minds.

"Whoah," said the tiny blond, as she spotted the corpse, and Nathan pinned to the wall. Gabriel knew her... She'd tried to get him to join Pinehearst...

Matt glanced around as well, but his gazed locked on to Gabriel, and in a second, he'd drawn the gun he never seemed to go anywhere without. Gabriel, considering what he'd just discovered, wasn't in much of a mood to have guns pointed at him. With little more than a twitch of his fingertips, the gun flew from Matt's grip.

"Let's all play nice," he said, "I'm helping Peter."

Matt glanced at Peter, who nodded, and resumed trying to talk Nathan out of whatever plan he had. Matt relaxed... some. "Angela sent us as backup for you... Apparently you didn't need it."

"Not at all," Gabriel muttered, once again not paying any attention to what was going on... another sketch caught his eye. _Oh, fuck._ He glanced at the blond who accompanied Matt, "You, what's your name?"

"...Daphne," the woman replied, hesitantly. Gabriel stared at her for a moment, and in an instant understood how her power worked. He couldn't take it, yet... So far absorbing a power had only worked with Elle... So he was going to have to hitch a ride.

He approached her, after shoving all the sketches into a folder, save for the last one. He could feel Parkman poking around in his thoughts, looking for any sign that he was going to harm any of them, "Well Daphne, I need you to take me here," he handed her the sketch, "And I need you to do it _fast_."

"Where is this?"

"Costa Verde."

"Daphne-" Matt began, likely to tell her no, but Daphne cut him off with a glare.

"I'll get you there, but I'm not sticking around."

"I won't need you to." Gabriel looked at Peter, and Nathan, "Sorry Peter, you're on your own for now."

Before Peter could ask what was going on, and before Matt could tell Daphne to stop, the woman had grabbed Gabriel's hand, and they were gone. With Gabriel no longer present, Nathan fell to the floor in a rather undignified heap.

* * *

**Costa Verde**

Elle was finally starting to feel drowsy. It was about time, considering how long she'd spent staring at the ceiling. She had just almost fallen asleep, when she heard a floorboard creak in the living room. Her first thought was that the owners of the house were there... But it was near midnight. No one in their right mind would decide to move back into their summer- which it certainly was _not_- home at midnight.

Elle started to call out, and see if it was Gabriel... But he wouldn't have been back so soon. He'd only left that morning. Also, he wouldn't have made the floorboard squeak in the tone that only someone sneaking could cause a board to use. She didn't know _why_ such a sound only occurred when one was sneaking, but that was just the way things were. Regardless of tones of squeaks, there was an intruder in her little sanctuary. Of course, _she_ was technically an intruder as well. But that made little difference at the moment.

She slid out of bed, manifesting a small globe of energy in her hand as she made her way into the living room. She was tense, prepared to attack anything that moved, or run, if whoever it was proved to be too powerful for her to handle. She wasn't, however, betting on the intruder to have been a step ahead of her. She didn't even know he was behind her until she felt the needle being jabbed into her spine. Whatever he got her with stung like a bitch, but Elle refused to let herself mind that, and instead focused on shocking her attacker with as much energy as she could. For some reason, though, she found that her power wasn't wanting to work anymore...

Her legs went rubbery, and she collapsed, knocking a lamp off a coffee table as she did so. The lamp shattered, and Elle was sure she was putting her hands right in the glass, as she tried to crawl away, but she couldn't feel it. Her entire body was going numb. Her arms didn't want to pull her along so she could escape the thudding of the heavy boots that were approaching her. The intruder grasped her under the arms, and started to drag her towards the door. Elle tried to protest, but her mouth felt like it was full of cotton....

And then the cold hands were gone... There was a loud crash, as more glass shattered- it sounded like it came from the direction of the big mirror that was hung on the wall. Then the room was filled with a bright blue light- the same light her power gave off- and for a few brief seconds; screams. Then it was dark again, and the screaming had stopped- and there was a funny charred smell in the air- and someone was leaning over her.

"Elle," Gabriel... "Elle, can you hear me?"

She tried to nod, but her head felt too heavy to move, and her eyes wanted so badly to close... "Elle! Elle, wake up."

Elle let her eyes fall shut. She needed her sleep anyway...

"Elle!"

----------

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Those of you who reviewed the last one get their date with Gabriel/Sylar/Elle... Fair warning... Dates with Gabriel may result in death by electrocution when Elle discovers you're sneaking around with her man. Dates with Sylar may end in death via a Sylar haircut, when he decides he wants to know _why_ you lied about your age... And dates with Elle may result in death via electrocution/telekinetic strangulation/being turned into gold/sound waves when Gabriel discovers that you have been sneaking around with his girl.

You have been warned ;)

Oh, and to anyone who's wondering... in my head, Gabriel was born on Halloween- cuz how fitting is that?- and Peter on November 1st (what's this madness!? Twins born on different days!?... It's happened... in my family. It confuses people all the time =P)


	4. Chapter 3

so... wow... this chapter is like... REALLY short... but if I combined it with the next chapter, that would have made it too long, so I just had to find a good place to end it, and do so.

Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter. Oh and don't expect ALL the chapters to come this quickly... I've just been on a spree lately.

btw, anyone who thinks the beginning section is similar to tonight's episode: it is... I like to catch the sneak peaks that get released a few days before the episodes... The conversation between Nathan and Peter was one of them. Of course, it's been edited for this.

ALSO!!! There is a "trailer" for this fic up on my youtube account. There is a link to the video in my profile, if anyone is interested

Disclaimer: do you see Elle back from the dead yet? No? Then I still don't own it.

* * *

Chapter Three

**Peter, Nathan, Matt & The Haitian  
Pinehearst**

Once Nathan was over having been dropped so suddenly, he moved over to his father's body, to kneel next to it. Peter made no move to stop him, but he kept his finger on the trigger of the gun at all times. Nathan reached out, and closed Arthur's eyes.

"That formula has to be destroyed," said Peter. Matt nodded in agreement, but otherwise stayed out of the confrontation. Peter was pretty sure the Haitian was out cold.

"It's too late, Pete," Nathan replied, "There's a dozen marines being injected right now.... The formula _works_..."

"Look, I know you think you're doin' something good here, but you're not," there was a nagging little voice in the back of his mind telling him that this was a futile attempt... That he should shoot Nathan, and be done with it. But he wouldn't... Couldn't.

"Are you sure of that?" Nathan didn't sound as if he was paying much attention to his little brother. When did he ever?

"Following Dad's plan? Giving out powers? I'm not gonna let that happen."

"It's not Dad's plan, anymore Pete," Nathan informed him, "It's ours... And Dad found a way to ensure that the future you saw won't happen..."

"What are you talking about?" Peter glanced towards Arthur's desk, thinking of how quickly Gabriel had wanted to get back to Costa Verde... What if... "What did Gabriel find over there, Nathan?" He glanced towards Matt, silently asking him to read Nathan's mind.

"It was sketches," Matt jumped in, "Sketches of your brother and... Elle... Something about Pinehearst's plan... " he trailed off for a moment, clearly struggling to find more in Nathan's head, "to control the future... A baby...."

Nathan chuckled and shook his head, "It doesn't matter what you or anyone knows... You can't stop it. We're trying to make the world a better place, Pete. Don't tell me you're going to get in the way of that."

Peter glared at his brother, "You sound just like him," he nodded towards Arthur.

"I know," Nathan replied, "And I can't help but wonder how long it is before it's me lying here." He stood, and Peter tensed. "Though, I suppose when we create the ability we need, I won't have to wonder." He took a step forward, and Peter brought the gun up, finger still firmly on the trigger, "Remember what happened last time you had a gun in your hand? I _am_ going to finish what he started."

"I'm not gonna let you," Peter bit out, teeth clenched.

Matt, still reading Nathan's thoughts, knew what he was going to do, but didn't quite warn Peter fast enough. Nathan launched himself at his brother, knocking him to the floor. Matt went for his own fallen weapon, and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. His aim was off though, and the bullet hit Nathan's shoulder, instead of a more vital area. Either way, it distracted him long enough for Peter to back up. Which was a good thing, because no sooner had Peter vacated that particular bit of floor than it was suddenly engulfed in bright blue flames. Flint and Knox had arrived, both as goon-like as ever. Unfortunately, however henchmen-cliche they were, they were still a threat. Especially with the Haitian still unable to block abilities, and with Peter powerless.

Flint was stupid enough, Matt could have had him seeing unicorns bouncing around the room, and they would have been saved, but Knox at least had a few braincells to him, and Matt doubted another illusion would work on him.

"Well well," said Flint, as Nathan got to his feet, hand clenched around his bleeding shoulder, "Miss Tracy said somethin' might be up. Don't reckon she was expectin' this."

Peter and Matt were saved from answering when Daphne returned, saw they were in trouble, and before anyone really knew what was going on, whisked them and the Haitian away.

* * *

**Costa Verde**

Elle's head was still pounding. She'd woken up an hour before, and several painkillers later, she still felt like she had a jackhammer bouncing around in her skull. Whatever Mr. Crispy Critter has used on her had sure packed a punch. Said Mr. Crispy Critter had enjoyed a nice little burial the night before, according to Gabriel. Elle was rather upset about that... She'd hoped to be able to fry him herself. Nothing brightened one's day like completely cooking the son of a bitch who tried to nab you in the middle of the night, in Elle's opinion. Then again, she _was_ a clinically diagnosed sociopath, so her opinion may have been a little skewered.

"How did you know he was here?" Elle asked, grimacing at the increased throbbing speaking brought to her head.

"This," Gabriel replied, handing her a sheet of paper, "I found it in Arthur's office."

It was a drawing of exactly what had happened last night, Elle realized. It depicted her being dragged out of the house- even the broken lamp was there, in the corner- by a rather tall and creepy looking man. Elle had never even gotten to see her temporary captor's face.

"Who sent him? Why?" that was what puzzled Elle, "And how did he know where we were staying?"

"Pinehearst," said Gabriel, "And these are how... I don't know about why."

He handed her a folder full of sketches. One of which was of the exterior of the beach house, that clearly showed the address. Elle went to the next one; her and Gabriel at the Canfield house. The next; the beach. Then one of her, Gabriel and Angela, apparently talking. The next one though, made her pause to look longer; it was of Elle, sitting by herself in an unfamiliar room staring at... No, that couldn't have been what it was... But it was. The Elle in the drawing was staring at what could only be a pregnancy test, and clearly written on it was the word "Pregnant". It wasn't that that scared Elle though... It was the date on the calendar in the background: December 25th. Less than a month away. Which meant... Oh _God. _Elle's hand flew to her stomach; she could be- and very likely was- pregnant, in the present time. She looked at Gabriel, and came to the quick conclusion that he had realized the same as her when he'd seen it. Determined to put off accepting the news as a possibility until she absolutely had to, Elle flipped through the rest of the sketches, until she came to the last one; the room appeared to be an office of sorts, though it looked like it had been completely trashed... She spotted Peter, leaning against the wall to the right of the desk that stood in the apparent center of the room, she herself was sitting on the edge of the desk, looking to the left and smiling at Gabriel, as he held a little boy up over his head. Elle could practically hear the child giggling like mad, begging daddy to lift him higher... _God, oh God... This can't be real..._

"Elle, breathe," Gabriel's voice cut into her thoughts. She followed his instructions, and felt momentarily light-headed as oxygen rushed through her system. She hadn't realized she'd stopped breathing...

She didn't bother asking if all of what she'd seen was going to happen... She knew how painting or drawing the future went: it almost _always_ happened. The one exception had been the painting of New York blowing up. And _that_ had come dangerously close to occurring. Elle wasn't entirely sure what to think... One part of her mind said that this would never work. How could _she_ of all people be a mother? That'd be a messed up kid; a former serial killer father, and a sociopath mother. Another part said that this was her chance to get what she'd always wanted: a chance to start over, to reinvent herself, become the woman she might have, if her father hadn't done such a Grade-A job of fucking her up. She looked at Gabriel, seeking some sort of help in how to handle the situation.

"What do-" she started to ask, but he cut her off.

"I don't know, Elle," he shook his head, "but if Arthur sent that agent for you for the reason I think he did, we have more problems than just that to worry about."

------

Sunset found Elle sitting at the edge of the water, digging her toes into the sand. She had her chin propped on her knees, and her arms wrapped around her legs. She'd never been much the type for "quiet contemplation" but that's what she was doing; quietly contemplating the situation. She was in all likelihood pregnant. Okay, she could deal with that... eventually... But then Gabriel had to start giving her his theories. Arthur had kept the sketches around for a reason, he'd said... And then the kidnapping attempt- and there wasn't really any reason that Gabriel could think of that they would need Elle, aside from one-... Gabriel thought, and Elle hoped he was wrong, that Arthur had wanted the baby... Their _son_, if the drawings were correct. She thought of the last sketch, with her, Gabriel, Peter, and the boy... She wanted that, she realized... Wanted things to turn out like that for herself and Gabriel. But wanting it didn't mean it would happen. Didn't mean she was capable of _letting_ it happen. The only experience she'd ever had with kids was when she was a kid herself, and Claire Bennet had been brought into the Company on occasion, as a baby. Elle had been fascinated with the girl- which did little to change the fact that she and Claire were likely to try and kill each other if they met again.

Elle sighed heavily, and found herself wishing that her mother was there. Marie Bishop had had advice for every situation. Elle had vague memories of her mother, before she'd died- in a fire that Elle herself had started- and many of them included hoping that when _she_ grew up and found her true love- as at seven, she'd believed in such things- and had her own little girl- or boy, as it were, now- that she was as perfect a mommy as her own mother. Thoughts like that hadn't entered her head since the fire, when half her family had died, and she'd been taken to the Company. Thanks to Daddy, any normal little-girl hopes and dreams had been nonexistent in Elle's head. By twelve, the combined stress of all the experiments, and the constant memory wipes had destroyed the sweet little girl she'd once been, until she was nothing more than a sociopathic remnant of herself.

If her father had had his way, she would have stayed that way forever. Not for the first time, Elle was secretly relieved that Daddy was gone; and the more she realized that he was the reason behind her current state of being, the less she felt guilty about being relieved.

But, she'd gotten off track... She had to decide what she wanted to do. First about the baby, then about Pinehearst... If Peter hadn't already taken care of that little snag.

"Elle, let's go," Gabriel called, the sudden sound making Elle jump.

She glanced back; Gabriel was standing at the front door of the house, a backpack slung over his shoulder stuffed with the clothes they'd decided to _borrow_ from the closets. They weren't staying in the house again, not when it was possible that someone else knew where they were. Instead, they were going to walk into the city, and find a hotel somewhere, and then decide where to go from there. Well, time enough for decisions once they were safe for the night. Elle heaved herself to her feet, and headed for Gabriel; whom was thankfully holding her shoes, since she didn't feel like walking all that way shoeless.

-------

The tv was on, but neither of them were really paying any attention to it. Gabriel wasn't even sure what was on, as he was only hearing snippets of it- something about an island, "others" and a pirate ship full of dynamite- between his thoughts. Elle was curled up against him, staring blankly off into space. She hadn't talked much since that morning, when he'd shown her the sketches. Though neither had he, so at least they were even. She was likely thinking of the same things as him; what to do if she was in fact pregnant; and Gabriel was pretty sure that she was. Which, frankly, was terrifying. Just because he and Elle weren't quite as crazy when they were together didn't mean they weren't still completely fucked in the head. Neither of them were the type to be parents. _Especially_ Gabriel. After all, he was an almost-former serial killer. The "serial" part was former. The "killer" bit was still true.

Of course, part of him thought back to what he'd said to Bennet- _I'm not a good boy, not exactly. Something more like... Like __**you**__. Home,__** family**__, but not afraid to do the job I have to_- and realized he really did want that. He'd never be the hero, but maybe morally gray was enough. But he and Elle... He wasn't even sure what one might classify their relationship as. It had just sort of _happened_, and they hadn't really discussed where that left them. He loved her, he knew that much. He was pretty sure he'd loved her the moment she'd told him her name- before that he'd really been wallowing in too much self-pity to really pay attention to his savior. He was _almost_ certain she loved him (if she didn't, why had she stuck around, after everything he'd done?).

"Elle," he started, "We need to talk about-"

Elle surprised him by cutting him off, "I wanna keep it... Him."

Gabriel could only stare down at her for a moment. Those were the last words he'd expected to come from her mouth.

"Did you just say-"

"Yes," Elle leaned her head back so that she could give him an upside down hopeful look, "Think about it.. You, me, him... Our chance to reinvent ourselves."

Gabriel thought of what Peter had told him, '_You get married... Have a son'_. He had to admit, he'd liked the idea, even then. But Peter had also mentioned Pinehearst destroying everything; killing the boy. He gave Elle the smallest of smiles, before he had to burst her bubble, "Before we can do that, we have to make sure there aren't going to be repeat performances of last night," he paused a moment, and added, "And we need to know _why _Arthur was even interested, what he saw... " he sighed, since he knew there was only one way to get that information, "We need to talk to my mother."

Another sigh. He didn't want to go to Texas. He didn't want to see his mother. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. Angela was the only person he knew that could (still) see the future, and therefore the only person that might know what Arthur had seen.

* * *

**Angela Petrelli  
Primatech**

Angela hadn't really meant to fall asleep, but the day had been exhausting. She'd spent the better part of the morning calming Noah Bennet. Then Peter, Milbrook, Parkman, and the Haitian had shown up. Arthur was dead- Angela was surprised to hear that Gabriel had killed him- but Nathan was still alive and well, and intent on carrying out his father's plans. Unfortunately now Nathan would be expecting further attacks, and would therefore up his security, and make it a general proverbial pain in the ass to get to him. The death of his father would likely only make Nathan more determined to finish Pinehearst's work. All in all, Angela wasn't sure if they were in a better or worse situation than before... Whereas Arthur had been relatively easy to dispatch- so confident in his own power that he felt he was invincible- Nathan was well aware of his own mortality, and would therefore be much more cautious than Arthur had ever been.

It had all added up to leaving Angela drifting off at her desk. She never knew when she was going to dream of anything significant- she was as likely to dream of some random person getting mugged on the streets as she was to dream the end of the world- but the images that flooded her mind were at least of minor importance.

Unlike normal people with normal dreams, Angela was capable of remembering every detail of her visions. So, when she woke, she knew exactly what needed to be done about the dream.

It seemed her second son was coming to pay her a visit.... And he was bringing trouble with him.

* * *

And now we're diverging further and further from canon... Yay! =P

Reviews earn you much love, and a kiss under the mistletoe with the character of your choice


	5. Chapter 4

whooo fast... Longer than the last chapter, but still shorter than I wanted... mostly cuz it's a lot of dialogue- which was needed. Also, I ask: did anyone notice the rather blatant LOST reference last chap, or were the Gabe/Elle snugglies blinding you? And, this is the chapter where I start asking if you notice events from the trailer I have for this up on Youtube (link in my profile) happening in this.

Thanks all for your reviews. Lea: Peter's a little busy saving the world, but he'll get to you as soon as he can =P  
Poetz: I hope the conversation between them is what you hoped.

As per usual, don't know when the next chapter will be up beyond "as soon as I'm done writing it"... I likely won't write anything more than "Chapter 5" tonight, cuz it's 1 am, and I've fallen asleep on my keyboard TWICE now, trying to finish this (My brain kept telling me "just one more section, and you're done... just finish this last section!")

Disclaimer: Elle not alive yet? No. Is Claire dead yet? No. Is Nathan suffering a thousand horrible deaths for being a complete and total ass? No. Has Peter seen the light, and just put a bullet in Nathan's head? No. Damn. I obviously still don't own it.

* * *

Chapter Four

**Claire Bennet**

**Primatech**

Claire sat in her grandmother's office, spinning back and forth in the desk chair. She was avoiding her father, who, after the incident in their home, as well as the issue of having been thrown into the past, had suddenly gotten a major dose of over-protectiveness. Sure, she had been willing to admit that she'd been acting like a stupid, spoiled brat, but that didn't mean she wanted him to go back to not telling her anything... to treating her like a child. She'd been through more in the past year than most people went through in their entire lives; she figured she was past the 'being treated like a kid' stage.

Unfortunately, her father didn't agree with her. He was determined to take her home, and not let her out of his sight again. Claire wanted to stay with the Company, get some _real_ training, and maybe help out... _After_ the training, of course. However, Angela was determined to side with Noah, as was Peter. She was debating on just how to convince them that with proper instruction, she could be a big help when her phone started ringing. She dug it out of her pocket, and glanced at the name displayed on the screen; Nathan.

She bit her lip for a moment, wondering if she should answer or not. _Oh, what the hell._ She flipped the phone open, and pressed it to her ear, "Hello?"

"Claire? Are you alone?" Yup, it was Nathan.

"....Yes," Claire answered hesitantly. What could her bio-dad possibly want... Especially after the night before...

"Good. I have an offer for you Claire, and I don't want you to answer right away."

"I'm listening."

"I'd like to offer you a job."

Claire was sure her jaw hit the floor, bounced back up, and hit the floor again, "I'm sorry... What? Why?"

"I said I'm offering you a job," Nathan repeated, "As for why... I'll be honest; for your blood. If Suresh can find a way to replicate it's properties, it'd be a medical miracle."

Well... at least he was honest about it.... And at least he'd _asked_... Primatech had just taken her, against her will. This was what she wanted; to _help_. She had since she'd realized what her blood could do. "If I say no, are you going to send a bunch of your goons to get me anyway?"

"No." When Claire snorted in disbelief, he added, "I swear, this is a legitimate offer. You're a tough young woman, Claire... I could use you here, and not just for your blood. Just think about it. Call me when you decide." With that, the line when dead, leaving Claire confused.

One dad wanted to keep her under lock and key, the other wanted to hire her. Nathan's offer was tempting, she'd admit that. And to be honest, she didn't really see the big deal about abilities being able to be created, and given to people... As long as it was a controlled thing, and not given to the wrong people... If abilities could be _chosen_, then it would be easy to make sure the more dangerous abilities were kept out of the general public...

Her thoughts were broken into by shouts coming from outside. Curious, she got to her feet, and half-ran for the door to peer out. She couldn't believe her eyes... Sylar stood in the hall, Elle held firmly behind him. Her dad was attempting to get at them both, but was being held back by... Peter!? Claire stomped bravely out of Angela's office, and towards the impending fight.

"What the fuck are _they_ doing here?" she demanded, glaring at Peter. _How can he be trying to protect them, after what they did?_ Apparently her father was too busy with attempting to kill the rather unwelcome visitors to remind her to watch her mouth like he normally would have done.

Elle gave her a rather nasty look, as Noah finally stopped struggling with Peter. Peter backed off, but stayed firmly put between Sylar and Noah. "We're here to speak to my _mother,"_ Sylar spat at Claire, though the last was said with a glare at Noah.

"Mom's down in Level 5," said Peter, still ready to fend off any attacks, "She should be back up soon, you can talk to her then."

"You're going to let them _stay_ here!?" Claire exclaimed, "Peter, they tried to kill me... They _did_ kill me!"

"Hey, I didn't know you couldn't heal, Pom-pom," Elle chimed in, stepping out from behind her human shield, "And I wasn't aiming for you... _You_ got in my way. Besides, your dad killed Gabriel. Score's settled."

"_Sylar_," Claire emphasized the name, "Cut the top of my head off, and fucked with my ability... The score is far from settled."

"I didn't do anything to your ability," Sylar insisted, "...But I could take a look, if you want something fixed."

That made Noah start up again.

"Enough!" Peter shouted with enough force to make even Noah stop in his tracks, "No one is killing, or fixing anyone. Gabriel, Elle, mom's office is over there," Peter pointed down the hall, "Noah, Claire, for the moment, they're on our side."

"We're not on anyone's side," Elle muttered, but if anyone other than Claire heard, they didn't acknowledge it.

Claire glared at the pair as they headed for Angela's office, with Peter behind them. They were _not_ allies. They were _not _to be trusted. And _Sylar_ was certainly _not_ her family, regardless of DNA.

------

Elle tapped her foot in annoyance. She wanted Pom-Pom and Glasses _gone_. Here she and Gabriel were, sitting in Angela's office, waiting to discuss rather private matters with the woman, and _they_ were standing in the door way, waiting to see what was going on. Peter was also there, but she didn't really mind him, since she did, after all, actually _like_ Peter. Also, his hearing this might help, since he had actually seen at least a possible future that could come from these events...

"Do you _really_ have to be here?" she finally asked aloud, glaring at Claire and Noah. Neither responded. Elle sighed angrily, and turned to Angela, whom was flipping through the sketches Gabriel had brought.

"So, do you want to know if it's true, or do you want to know why it mattered to Arthur... and now Nathan?"

"Both," Gabriel and Elle responded simultaneously.

"Well, dear," Angela said this looking at Elle, "It's true. You _are_ pregnant," there was a sudden intake of breath from Peter... as if he knew something... "As for _why_, Arthur likely had the same dreams I did... The boy's ability is quite extraordinary. It would also be very dangerous, if Nathan were to get it, and replicate it. If what I've seen is correct, my grandson will be able to see every possible future, and control which future becomes reality. I'm sure there's more to it, but I'm afraid my dreams don't give me a play-by-play of events."

"So when Nathan said that Dad found a way to make sure what I saw would never happen..." Peter said.

Elle barely heard him. She was still trying to process what Angela had just said. She was pregnant. Okay, she'd accepted that. Now she was pregnant with a mega-precog, who could control the path the present took? Not as easy to wrap one's mind around. But she could see how that ability would be useful to Pinehearst; or to anyone, really. She heard Noah asking Angela something, but she didn't quite catch what it was; but she could guess, from Angela's reply.

"I don't know, I haven't seen that far ahead. But the boy would probably be disposed of, when they were done with him."

Elle grimaced at that, and resisted the urge to move her hand to her stomach. _No one's touching him._

"So you mean they'd kill him," Claire clarified.

_Way to improve the mood, Cheerleader_, Elle thought sarcastically. She wanted to turn back time to that morning when she and Gabriel had woken up, and had considered _not_ coming here. She would certainly choose to not come, because the news was getting worse and worse as things went along. Ignorance was bliss, and all.

"They would, but they won't get the chance-" said Angela.

"Damn right," Gabriel muttered, looking as perplexed by all of it as Elle felt.

"- because he's never going to be born."

Angela suddenly had everyone's eyes locked on her, "...Excuse me?" Elle was sure she had misheard, "What did you-"

"I said he's never going to be born," Angela repeated, looking at Elle as if she were a child too slow to grasp a very simple matter, "Do you really think you two are fit to be parents? And even if you were, do you think I would risk letting the boy fall into Nathan's hands?"

"Mom, remember what I saw-" Peter started, but Gabriel cut in.

"You can't be serious... This is your grandson you're talking about!"

"Gabriel, I poisoned my husband, I was willing to let Peter destroy New York, if Peter hadn't come from the future to do it, I'd have ordered Nathan shot myself, and I sent your brother to kill your father... Do you really think destroying something that barely exists yet is going to bother me?" Angela spoke calmly, and could have easily been commenting on the growth rate of a rosebush with the tone she used, "I assure you, I am not afraid to make sacrifices to ensure the safety of the world."

"No," Elle stated, shoving herself out of her chair, hands sparking, "_No_." With that, she turned sharply, headed for the door, and, after roughly shoving past Noah and Claire, was down the hall, where she promptly started pacing.

"I may want her dead," she heard Noah say, "But Angela, think about what you're asking her to do."

"I'm not asking."

"Mom!" that was Peter, clearly unhappy with what his mother was implying.

Elle blocked the voices out. She didn't even notice when Gabriel caught up with her, and started trying to talk to her. It wasn't so much Angela's suggestion that upset her- though it _did_- but rather the fact that she could see how it was the logical route... That she could see how it would be easier on everybody. Even thinking of it made her feel overwhelmingly guilty. _'Do you really think you two are fit to be parents?'_ Elle could admit that they weren't, as of the present time. But was Angela really one to talk? After all, she'd been willing to let _her_ children die, had been willing to order them killed even... What kind of mother was Angela, to be saying that Elle- who knew that if she did this, no one was getting their hands on her baby... _ever_- wasn't fit for the job? How could _anyone_ in the Petrelli family be fit to give parenting advice, really. Arthur had tried to kill every member of his family... Nathan was determined to rule the world- and had tried to kill his brother... Peter was about the only sane one in the family...

She left Gabriel out of the list, since as far as she was concerned, he wasn't a part of that severely fucked up family.

Still pacing- and still sparking in frustration- Elle finally took notice of the fact that she wasn't alone. Gabriel was leaning against the wall with a look that clearly asked "are you done?". When Elle finally stood still, and calmed herself enough that she wasn't randomly zapping things, he spoke, "What mom said, about not asking... I won't let her. Not if you're serious about keeping him."

"Him"... It made it sound all the more real, knowing the sex already. Elle thought of the one sketch they'd kept from Angela, the one stuffed in her back pocket, of her, Gabriel, Peter, and the boy. Knowing that things could turn out like that made it not quite as terrifying. It also made her more attached than she might have been had she just found out she was pregnant the way most women did. So, she was absolutely sure of her answer when she said, "I am serious, Gabriel... I want him."

Gabriel sighed in what seemed to be relief, and moved towards her, placing a quick kiss on her temple, "So do I," he muttered, as he pulled her to him, holding her tightly to his chest.

--------

Claire watched the display of affection from the office doorway. It might have been cute, if the ones showing the affection hadn't been Sylar and Psycho-bitch; that little fact made it rather sickening... and more than a little weird.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw her dad shake his head, and heard him mutter something she didn't quite catch, "What?"

"I said Angela won't be getting the results she's hoping for," he chuckled and shook his head, "They're crazy, and it'd be better for the world if they were dead, sure, but they're devoted to each other. I don't think even Angela's sway as mommy will win this fight."

Claire snorted at that, "Can't believe _he_ is my _uncle_," she shivered at the thought, "That makes the demonspawn my cousin..."

"You can't choose your family," Noah sighed, though he didn't sound happy with the prospect either. Peter, apparently done arguing with his mother, heard their conversation.

"Hey, he's changed," he said, as he moved past them into the hall.

"How can you be so sure?" Claire was dying to know that one.

"Because I accessed his ability," said Peter, as if that explained everything, "When I was in the future... I killed Nathan... And when I got back here, I tried to kill mom... I know what that ability does. I've also seen that he can fight it. He _is_ fighting it." Without saying anything more, Peter walked off to join the embracing couple.

Claire watched as he spoke to them, for a moment, then said to Noah, "Nathan offered me a job."

She was sure that if it had been possible, her dad's eyes might have popped out, "_What_!?"

"That's what I said."

"What did you tell him?" Noah forced out. Claire knew that tone well enough to know that he was trying to keep from shouting at her.

"I didn't. He told me to think about it, and hung up. So, I'm thinking."

"Absolutely _not_," Noah moved to stand in front of her, so he could look down at her properly, "Claire, how could you even _consider_ considering it?"

"Because I want to help people, and Nathan could give me the chance," Claire replied evenly, "Because all _you_ want to do is keep me locked away from the world."

"For your own safety!"

"Dad, I can't die, how much safer can I get?"

The family spat was cut short when the trio from down the hall returned, likely to finish the confrontation with Angela.

-----

Gabriel watched proudly as Elle told his mother exactly what she thought about her plan. There was much sparking and cursing involved, but Gabriel was sure his mother got the message; killing the baby was _not_ an option. Angela smiled an indulgent smile that said "you'll see things my way eventually", and claimed she'd accept their decision. Gabriel knew she was lying as surely as if he'd had a lie detector in his head, but he didn't say anything. He and Elle had the information they needed; hopefully they could get out of here, and be on their way soon. But Angela apparently had other plans, for she informed them that they were to stay in the facility, until she had found a safer place for them to go.

"I will _not_ risk Nathan getting his hands on you, dear," she said to Elle, "Your only objective from now on is to keep from getting caught."

And so the first day in hell began, or so Gabriel thought. This was what he'd wanted to avoid: being caught under the Company's thumb. But Angela was right: they couldn't let Nathan get Elle, and as much as he hated to admit it, his mother was capable of coming up with better covers, and a safer place than they might have come up with/found on their own.

They were given one of the rooms used by the "them" agents, who, like Elle, weren't allowed to roam about freely in the world. It may as well have been a cell, but at least the doors didn't get locked. Though that did little to make Gabriel feel any better about having to stay... Especially considering that the door didn't lock from the _inside_ either, and there were at least two people currently residing in the building who wanted him and Elle dead... Not that they'd have much success killing _him_. But Elle was vulnerable. Even as he thought that, he pulled her closer to him- she was curled up against him, practically on his lap- causing her to squeak in protest. He loosed his grip, a bit, smiling. It was then that he realized he hadn't heard a peep from his darker half since he'd realized Elle was in danger, the other night. _Maybe I'm finally free_, he thought, resting his cheek against Elle's hair, _maybe this will all actually work out_. He half expected those little fly away thoughts of '_come on, Gabe, just one more time'_ and '_you know you want to... want to open her up, and see how she works_' to start up that very moment. Thankfully, they did not. His mind remained blissfully devoid of anything that had to do with power, or murder.

He just couldn't help but wonder if it was only temporary.

----

Angela was definitely not happy with the way things had gone, today. She hated it when things didn't go according to plan, and today had certainly _not_ gone according to plan. But despite what all of them thought, she was thinking about what was best for the entire world. The future she'd seen could _not_ be allowed to come into being.

_What happened to making things worse when you try to change the future, Mom?_ Peter had asked her earlier, when cross-examining her motives. She hadn't really had an answer for him beyond that while she hadn't seen anything particularly disasterous in the near future, it didn't change the fact that even allowing the child to be born would give Pinehearst the opportunity to get his ability, and whether or not that was going to happen, she couldn't bear the thought of even the possibility of it happening. And as long as the boy was alive, the possibility existed. Better safe than sorry. She had thought Elle would be eager to be rid of the burden, but the little brat had surprised her. She certainly hadn't been betting on Gabriel wanting to keep the child. She was willing to admit that she had underestimated the obvious emotional attachement between the two, but it wasn't a mistake she would be making again. She would leave them be, for now. If in the coming weeks they hadn't seen things her way, she would try again. However, she knew when she was losing a battle; she wouldn't carry her crusade past a point when she knew she should stop. She also would not attempt to force Elle to do as she wished... That was a recipe for disaster, as far as Gabriel went. Angela doubted even being his mother would save her from his wrath if Elle were harmed in any way... They had, after all, told her what had become of the agent Pinehearst had sent.

Angela was many things, but stupid was not one of them.

Sinking into her office chair, she sighed. It seemed none of her sons were going to follow her instructions any longer. It was a pity really... They had all gotten into so much less trouble, while under her command. It seemed all her control was slowly slipping away. With Elle around, Gabriel had no use for her. Peter was determined to avoid following in Nathan's footsteps, and was therefore disinclined to listen to anything she had to say- their argument earlier had only made matters worse- Nathan was determined to be everything his father had been, Noah it seemed no longer feared her as much as he once had, since he'd discovered that the daughter he was trying to keep from her was her grandchild, and Claire... Well, Claire was just convinced that she was to be nobody's puppet.

Things, she realized, were no longer going in her favor, as they once had.

Another sigh, as she looked at the few family pictures she had spread about her desk. Family... If things didn't go the way she wanted, hers would be getting a little larger all too quickly.

* * *

Damn... this ALL took place at Primatech... I just realized that...

Anyway, action will be a bit amped up next chapter- or, according to what I've got written in my chapter outlines it will be. So review, and you might get it faster.

Also... before you start to worry: Little Noah will be making his first real appearance relatively soon... I won't be crawling through the next 9 months at a snail's pace... This is all just necessary to set up later events XD... Think of the first... -checks chapter outlines- 7 chapters as a giant prologue =P


	6. Chapter 5

I hope I'm not updating to fast for everyone XD... I wrote ALL of this today. I think it's a combination of both having an outline in advance- something I don't usually do... usually just work things out as I go along- as well as just enjoying writing this in general. I don't recall the last time I had this much fun writing something.... In fact, I don't think I've EVER updated a fic this often before...(though admittedly, I should stop updating at midnight)

Cat: about Angela... well... She had to try ONE more time (you'll see)... and if only Claire would listen to that advice.

Poetz: you were correct about the scene from the promo.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, stuff like what's in this would be canon, dammit... not fic.  


* * *

Chapter 5

**Noah Bennet  
Primatech**

Noah watched Gabriel and Elle from the opposite end of the cafeteria. He had to admit, if he hadn't known them previously, he'd never have guessed that they were both murderers, and more than a little off their rockers. In fact, to any bystander they might have appeared to be nothing more a regular clearly-smitten couple. This illusion was made all the stronger by the fact that Elle was no longer limping, and she no longer sported butterfly stitches across her forehead. That was thanks to Claire- which Claire didn't want to be reminded of. Angela had insisted that the woman be perfectly healthy, and nothing did that like a dose of Claire's blood. They might have used Gabriel's, but much to everyone's surprise, his blood wouldn't heal anyone but him. Apparently the mimicked regeneration wasn't as effective as a natural regen.

Either way, Elle was back to perfect health, and Noah was making damn sure to keep a very close eye on her and her boyfriend for the duration of their stay- which would hopefully be ending soon, since Angela was busy pulling strings, and creating aliases. In the two days they'd already been there, they hadn't stirred up any trouble, but that didn't mean they wouldn't, at some point. For the most part, the only one causing any trouble was Claire, who refused to be sent home. Noah had thought her dying had knocked some sense into her, but apparently he'd been wrong. She was still sulking about their argument the other day, and she was still refusing to speak to Peter, likely because he'd stood up for their guests. Unfortunately, Noah thought, the worst of the Petrelli traits were beginning to manifest in her; stubbornness, and a heavy dose of "can't-be-wrong". Of course, those had always been present, but it seemed lately they were increasing by the day. Noah was sure this was Angela's influence at work.

A laugh from the subjects of his surveillance brought him out of his thoughts. Elle's hands were flying, as she spoke, demonstrating something or other that had amused Gabriel. Noah found himself wondering if an invasion of body snatchers had occurred and replaced the people sitting across the room with doubles, because these weren't the people he knew. Elle didn't smile like that, ever- not even when she was enjoying tormenting one of the prisoners- and Gabriel- or Sylar- certainly didn't laugh in that carefree manner. Noah was sure he'd slipped into the Twilight Zone at some point.

"Gabriel," Angela had entered the room, "Would you come with me, please." While it was worded like a question, there was no doubt that it was an order. Gabriel got to his feet, and Elle started to follow, but Angela held up a hand to stop her, "Just Gabriel, dear."

Elle sat back down, looking annoyed at being told to stay, but she didn't protest. Noah stayed as well, since he didn't feel like sneaking and eavesdropping right then. In fact, he'd have been perfectly happy to stay right where he was at. Unfortunately, that clashed with his plan to keep an eye on the "guests", since Elle was on her feet the moment Angela and Gabriel were gone, and was heading for the door opposite the one they had left through. Noah got to his feet and was quick to follow her.

It appeared that Elle was headed for the door that led outside. Halfway there, she spoke, "Why are you following me, Bennet? Gonna stab me in the back, and say it was an accident?"

"No, I'm making sure you behave. Where are you going?"

"Outside. I hate being stuck in this place... You know that."

He did. In fact, Noah knew Elle better than even her father had. She'd spent nearly twenty years cooped up in that building, he couldn't blame her for wanting to get out. If it wasn't for the slight fact that she had helped to kidnap Claire, had killed Claire, and was a general nuisance, Noah might have felt sorry for her. He _had_ felt sorry for her, for most of her life; watching Bob torture her, then making her forget, then just handing her off to the scientists when he was done. Noah was sure he was the only one who'd ever actually been nice to her, during her childhood- which was likely why he'd been saddled with her as a partner for a while... He was the only one she wouldn't have fried the moment she had one of her mood swings.

"Alright, let's go out," he finally said, as if she had asked permission. Elle rolled her eyes, but didn't protest to him coming with her.

* * *

**Levi Hanson, Jessica Mitchell, & Benjamin Knox  
Odessa, Texas**

Jessica examined her fingernails boredly. Of course Mr. Petrelli _had_ to stick her with these two. Hanson was a damn perfectionist; wanted every part of their little ambush planned down to so much as when one of them should _blink_, and Knox... Well, she wasn't sure what to make of Knox, but she knew she didn't like him. Hopefully, she wouldn't be asked to work with these two again, because if she did, she might just quit her job with Pinehearst. To be honest, she wasn't really sure what they were doing here, anyway. Petrelli had just said that the woman they were after had important information, and that he needed her to not be harmed, when they nabbed her. Which Jessica assumed was why she was there; to make sure their quarry couldn't zap them, and force them to hurt her. Levi was there to make grabbing the woman easier, and Knox was there to be the muscle, if anything went wrong. At least all their roles were clear.

"Are ya _done_?" Jessica finally snapped at Hanson, her already thick Texas accent made thicker by her annoyance, "Look, Mr. P told us we were grabbin' some girl. We're here, let's grab her, 'fore we die of old age, listenin' t'your long 'n complicated little plans."

"I'm with the lady on this one," said Knox, "If we can get her alone, we don't need all the extra stuff."

"And if we don't get her alone?" Hanson inquired.

"_Then_ we'll go with all your fancy plots."

* * *

**Elle, Noah, & Claire**

**Primatech**

Elle sighed, watching as father and daughter argued..._again._ She and Noah had come inside from their little outdoor jaunt, and had bumped into Claire. Claire, obviously in a pissy mood, had made several off-hand comments about her father becoming chummy with the "Psycho-Bitch", which had stirred Noah up- and he was already tense anyway, Elle could tell that much. Elle only stood back, and did her best not to listen to the bickering. Though she did catch a few bits which included "might work for Pinehearst after all" and "Over my dead body". _Please, God, or whoever's listening, please don't let me and my baby end up like them._ If there was ever an example of a child/parent relationship gone bad, it was Claire and Noah Bennet, and Elle did _not_ want her daily life to consist of shouting matches, and looks that could have killed.

Elle was about to ask them if they could keep it down- the shouting was giving her a headache- when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Before she fully realized what was happening, she was being yanked backwards. She managed to get out a strangled yelp before she was suddenly pulled through... The wall!?

----

Noah hadn't really been paying any attention to Elle; he'd been too busy trying to talk some sense into his daughter. Her short little yell, though, caught his attention. He turned sharply, just in time to see Elle's feet disappearing into the wall.

"Shit!" wasting no time, he was sprinting for the door that led outside, Claire hot on his heels.

----

Elle tried to zap her kidnapper out of existence. An endeavor which unfortunately failed. She didn't realize why, until she was on the other side of the wall, in the bright Texas sunlight, and looking at a very tall athletic looking redhead, who wore a smirk on her face.

"Tryin' to go all bug zapper on us, honey? Ain't gonna work with me around." Great... a southern, female, _white_ Haitian. That was just perfect. "C'mon, let's get her to the truck, 'fore someone makes it out here."

Whoever had a hold of her moved to rearrange their grip, and Elle took the momentary distraction as an opportunity, and slammed her head backwards. She felt something crunch against the back of her head, then something warm and wet dripping on the back of her neck; she'd broken her assailant's nose. The hands released her, and Elle shot forward, towards the entrance of the building. She hadn't gotten very far, though, when a hand gripped her arm, and tugged her roughly backwards, with far more strength than should have been possible... Which was when she found herself looking at Knox. _Oh, shit._ She knew what his ability was, and by all that was holy, he was having a field day with her fear right then since, though she didn't want to admit it, even to herself, she was _terrified_. Elle struggled, even though she knew it did no good; Knox's grip wouldn't budge.

He started to drag her back in the direction the redhead had gone, and Elle caught a glimpse of the skinny little man who'd been holding her before. She felt a swell of pride when she noticed that blood was gushing from his nose, and he was currently howling in pain trying to get it back in place. She started to taunt him, when the gunshot rang out, and the man with the broken nose fell forward, a bullet buried in his brain. Then all hell broke loose... Elle, however, wouldn't witness it, for she heard Knox shout to the redhead to "take her, I got them", and then his fist connected with her jaw, and her world went dark.

---

Noah didn't have time enough to get off another shot before Knox got to him. Thankfully, the attack had no extra force behind it, since Noah was _not_ afraid of the man. Unfortunately, the punch did force him to drop his gun. Noah returned every blow, and dodged even more, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the redheaded woman was dragging an unconscious Elle away.

"Claire!" he shouted, hoping she'd caught up with him, "Get Elle!"

Claire had caught up, but she paid little attention to what he said; instead she attacked Knox with all she had- which unfortunately wasn't enough. And apparently, Claire was scared, because Knox was able to knock her aside as if she were nothing more than a ragdoll, and his next blows to Noah had more strength behind them. "CLAIRE! _GET ELLE!_" they couldn't let Nathan get Elle... Again, Claire ignored him, choosing instead to resume her attack on Knox. Knox turned his attention to the no longer afraid Claire, and Noah had a split second to make up his mind; he could keep fighting Knox, and hope his daughter would go after Elle, or he could leave her to fend for herself, and get Elle on his own. If he helped Elle, Claire would see it as him abandoning her, again. If he helped Claire, she would see it as having no faith in her abilities. _Damn it to hell..._ Not waiting around to see the look of betrayal in his daughter's eyes, Noah took advantage of no longer being hit, grabbed the fallen gun, and took off after the redhead, and Elle.

When he got close enough, he started firing off shots. None hit, but it was hard to aim when one was running. Regardless of whether they hit or not, the redhead apparently felt that trying to drag someone was slowing her down too much for safety, for she dropped the blond, and ran. Noah reached the woman, and scooped her up, not bothering to chase after the redhead. He turned, about to start running back to the building, but found himself shocked into staying still; Claire had Knox on the ground, and the man wasn't moving.

Approaching her, with Elle groaning in his arms, he admired her handiwork, "Impressive work, Claire-"

"Yeah, whatever," Claire replied, popping several fingers back into place, as well as one wrist.

"-but I told you to get Elle," the tone of approval he'd previously allowed in his voice was gone now.

"I was trying to help you!"

"I didn't need any help, Claire," Noah scolded, "However, _she_ did," he nodded down at the stirring Elle, "What if that woman had gotten away?"

Claire muttered something that Noah didn't quite catch, but he doubted it was anything particularly polite, "It doesn't matter anyway... She's safe, and the bad guys are taken care of." Her tone said that it _did_ matter. Noah couldn't help but think that Claire had wanted Elle to be taken. One thing that he was sure of, she wouldn't be forgiving him for, in her mind anyway, picking Elle over her, any time soon... Even if that was _not_ what he'd done. He'd simply chosen the safety of the planet over sparing someone who was indestructible a few broken fingers.

"Come on... Let's get someone to drag him inside... He belongs back on Level 5."

Claire nodded, still looking more than a little pissed, and jogged back towards the entrance, as Noah followed at a slower pace, with Elle. Halfway to the door, Claire had returned with two of the security guards, and led them to Knox. Noah was dreading Angela and Gabriel's return, and what might happen, when Gabriel learned of the afternoon's events. Whatever would happen, it wouldn't bode well for Knox.

----

"Well, this is an unfortunate turn of events," said Angela- though her tone made it sound anything but- "Fortunately, I already have everything worked out...By tomorrow evening, Nathan won't be able to find you."

"Yeah? How's that?" Elle asked, holding an icepack to her bruised jaw.

"New identities, new place to live," Gabriel answered. He was still furious about what had happened to Elle, and was itching to get his hands on Knox... but that had to wait, "That's why were gone, Mom, Peter and I were working out the last few details on everything..."

"And _I_ wasn't brought along _why?_" Elle wanted to know, "I have some say in all of this too."

"Of course you do, dear, but I thought you would be safer here," Angela said. Gabriel noticed something, though, that upset him... A slight twitch of a smirk at the corner of his mother's mouth, a knowing glint in her eyes... Angela noticed his suspicious stare, and hurriedly continued, "You will be going to Denver tomorrow morning, where you will _stay_ until such time as Pinehearst is no longer a threat. Peter will be joining you."

"Oh great," Elle muttered, "Bitter cold, and lots of snow."

Peter, whom had remained quiet at the back of the room until then, chuckled, "Look on the bright side, you'll get a white Christmas."

To Gabriel, the look on Elle's face said that idea was totally alien. He wondered if, given the nature of her life up until that point, she'd ever even had what most people would consider a normal Christmas. Not likely. Not like he had, with his moth-... Virginia, and Walter, as a child... Before Virginia had started with her obsession of "special, you have to be special".

--

After finishing the conversation with Angela, and allowing Elle to fall asleep, Gabriel crept out of his room, and down to Level 5. Knox was easy to find, but Gabriel didn't go into the cell just yet. He still wasn't entirely sure what he was doing down here. (_You're here to kill him..._). The man was locked up... had been knocked out by a seventeen-year-old girl. But that wasn't enough. He'd hurt Elle, had attempted to take her, as well as the baby. Opening the cell door was easy with the telekinesis. The loud thunk as the locks were undone make Knox jump.

However, when the man saw who his guest was, he smirked, "Your girlfriend missin'?" he taunted. Gabriel knew what he was doing; he knew how the ability worked... Fear. Even being a little bit afraid of him would strengthen him. Luckily, Gabriel wasn't afraid; he was pissed.

Knox was against the wall faster than he could blink, his throat being constricted, "Actually, she's upstairs, asleep. Your partner failed." _Kill him Gabriel_, said that Sylar-voice in the back of his mind. He increased the pressure on Knox's throat. _Not like that... Kill him properly... Take the ability... He's going to die anyway. You may as well get something out of it..._. For the briefest of seconds, Gabriel started to lift his hand, his fingers moving into that familiar position. But, he forced the limb back down. He would _not_ let that happen... Not now. He released his hold on Knox, and the man dropped to the floor, coughing.

The coughing soon dissolved into laughter, "What's the matter? Can't kill me? Scared?"

Gabriel knocked the satisfied smile off his face with a hard punch to the jaw- which was accompanied by a good jolt of electricity. "Not at all," he replied, hitting Knox again. _But you see, I'm trying really hard not to fall back on my old ways. Killing you would only prove everyone that says I can't change right. _Though, just because he was forcing himself to _not_ kill the man didn't mean he couldn't knock the shit out of him, which he did with glee.

When Knox lay in a bloody, wheezing heap, Gabriel stopped hitting him, his anger having subsided greatly. He left the man there, a smirk on his face. He'd done it. He'd resisted the urge to kill him. He felt as though he'd past some sort of test. There was hope for him yet.

When he got back upstairs, and to his and Elle's room, he discovered that Elle wasn't there. Momentarily panicked, he sprinted off down the hall, looking for her. He heard her voice, coming from Angela's office.

"How many times do I have to say 'no'!?"

Gabriel peeked in the door; Elle was standing in front of his mother's desk. "Surely you see how dangerous going through with this is, after today."

_"_I _don't_ _care_!" Elle spat, "Today doesn't change the fact that I am _not_ killing him!"

"Elle, this is only going to keep happening," Angela reasoned, "It would be so very easy to make all of it stop."

Gabriel felt that then was a good time to intervene, so he pushed the door open, and stepped in. But he couldn't resist voicing the suspicion he'd had earlier. Before either of the women had time to continue their argument, he asked, "You knew it would happen, didn't you? You saw that Nathan had sent someone to take her."

Elle's gaze grew menacing, the moment she realized what Gabriel was suggesting.

Angela seemed slightly surprised, but after a moment, she smiled, "Yes, I knew. I dreamed it. I also dreamed that Noah would stop them from getting her, so I decided to use it to my advantage. I had hoped that it would make you two realize how dangerous this is."

"We already knew, mom," Gabriel seethed. How could she? Putting Elle in danger... Even if she _had _known what the outcome would be. He forced himself to remain calm- and grasped Elle's hand to calm her, and keep her from roasting Angela-, and ask, "When do we leave in the morning?"

"Eight a.m."

"Good." The sooner the better. Knowing if he didn't leave right then, he might do something he'd regret, Gabriel turned and left, tugging Elle with him. Eight a.m. couldn't come fast enough. Then he would be out of there, and away from Angela...

* * *

**Tracy & Nathan  
Pinehearst**

"So, we now have approval to continue dosing select groups of soldiers," Tracy was saying, as she paced back and forth in front of Nathan's desk, "Within a few months, and with a little more testing, we'll be able to expand into other areas." She got the feeling, though, that Nathan wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying. "Hey, is anyone alive in there?"

Nathan looked at her as though he'd only just noticed she was in the room, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Don't tell me you're still worrying over Mitchell, Hanson and Knox not getting Bishop," Tracy perched on the edge of the desk, crossing her legs, "You shouldn't worry about it so much, Nathan. We have plenty of time. Taking her now would only give Primatech more of an opportunity to get her back."

"It's not that... Hanson is dead, and Knox is missing," Nathan sighed, "I had hoped that we could avoid any more casualties in this mess."

Tracy was about to tell him that he was dreaming if he thought this entire plan could go without any more casualties, when the phone rang. Nathan seemed glad of the distraction, when he answered it.

"Hello?... Oh, it's you. Have you decide-... Okay. You've made the right choice... Yes, I'm sure... I'll see you soon, then.... Bye."

As Nathan cradled the receiver, Tracy gave him a questioning look, "What was that?"

"Personal matter... Now, what other areas are you hoping to expand to?"

* * *

**Claire Bennet**

**Primatech**

Claire sat on her temporary bed, tossing her phone back and forth between her hands. Tomorrow, she was supposed to be getting on a plane, and going back to Costa Verde. Her dad had already called her mother, and informed her when Claire's flight would be landing, and all that jazz, so Sandra would be there to pick her up. Unbeknownst to Noah, Claire had taken the liberty of changing her flight plan. She had no intention of going home, though she sure as hell wasn't staying _here_ either. Not when everyone here was so eager to protect a couple of murderers... Even her own father. He was the last person she'd ever expected would actually _help_ one of those two... Yet he had. Had left her to fend off an opponent that, had she not gotten a few lucky- and decidedly dirty- shots in, would have beaten her, in favor of saving _Elle_. Elle, who had killed Claire.

Claire flipped open her phone, and dialed the number she should have dialed days ago. He picked up at the first ring.

"Hello?" came Nathan's voice.

"Hi, Nathan."

"Oh, it's you. Have you decide-"

Claire cut him off, "I'll accept your offer."

"Okay," Nathan sounded extremely pleased, "You've made the right choice."

Claire bit her lip, hard enough that her teeth came together through the skin; she didn't feel it, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I'll be there tomorrow afternoon," there was no going back now.

"I'll see you soon, then."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

And so, with a click as the phone snapped shut, Claire ended her old life, and started the new.

* * *

Forgive me if I'm turning Claire into an insufferable bitch... Alas... that is what she is. And to think I used to like her. Now it is my mission to make you hate her as much as I do... And trust me, by the end of this, you WILL hate her... if you don't already.

For Gabriel's blood not having healing properties: well... has ANYONE ever bothered to use Peter's blood to heal someone? No, they always went for Adam, or Claire... You'd think someone might have thought to try... Anyway, I need mimicked regen to not work for healing others, for something to work out later...

To anyone who is wondering: Hiro and Ando are back in Japan, because Hiro's sister is getting married (and Ando is heartbroken)... Ando remains powerless.

Daphne and Matt have gotten Molly from the school Mohinder sent her too (according to the writers, that's what he did) and are currently looking for a bigger apartment, or even a house, in or outside of New York city. Daphne is moving in with them.


	7. Chapter 6

I'm doing it again... updating at midnight. Would have had this done sooner, but I was spending time catching up on my shows (and I have a lot)

Poetz: about Elle... well, it is the only plausible way someone could really get her... I mean, she CAN fry just about anyone =P. The flashforward was meant to be misleading ;) ... I do hope I put enough of their settling, in... but it was a tricky thing to write, all things considered. I hope you're happy with this chapter

A LOT of time covered in this one... a lot.

Oh, and there's a brief Peter/Elle moment... Samantha mentioned having a Pelle side, so that's for her ;)

* * *

Chapter 6

**Gabriel, Elle, & Peter**

**Denver, Colorado**

Elle practically skipped up the sidewalk to what was to be her home for the next... however long it took to crush Pinehearst. She wasn't in a good mood because of the house- though just looking at the outside, it was beautiful- she was in a good mood because _finally_ they were away from Angela, and out of the Primatech building. She could have been walking up to a complete shack, and still would have been happy... Though the house did help; it was moderately sized, nothing to large, but by no means small, and had a vaguely Victorian look to it. The brick exterior was an extremely dark red, and the shutters on the windows, the rails on the porch, as well as the columns supporting the roof above the porch were all an off-white; there were two floors- though judging from the tiny window at the top, there was also a small attic. According to Angela, the house was already furnished, though they were welcome to change any decor they saw fit. Although, Elle wouldn't know where to start. The only place she'd ever lived was the Primatech building; and she'd never really bothered with any personal touches in her room. All in all, her attitude was more like a giddy teenager, happy to finally be out of their parents' clutches, and living on their own, rather than a woman who was pregnant with a child that could end the world.

The grin she wore still on her face, Elle reached the front door, and began to fiddle with the keys Angela had given her, attempting to find the right one. She couldn't help staring for a moment at the rings that now sat on her left hand. Part of the cover story, but Elle still enjoyed it. She and Gabriel were now Elle and Gabriel Black. The Blacks had been married for two years, and were of course expecting their first child. Before moving to Denver, they had lived in New York City. Peter was now Peter King, Elle's older brother, whom was to be living with his sister, and her husband. Of course, if Angela had her way, there would be no need to memorize everything, because she wanted them to completely avoid people. No jobs- which was fine with Elle-, as she had made sure that they would have plenty to get by on, and they were to avoid becoming too friendly with the neighbors. Of course, that also wasn't a problem for Elle; she wasn't exactly social. Neither was Gabriel. But Peter... Peter loved people. And Elle had half a mind to try to make friends simply to spite Angela...

"Could you unlock the door already?" Peter's voice brought her out of her thoughts, "It's cold as hell out here."

Elle turned, and found that Peter and Gabriel were standing right behind her, shoulders hunched up, both of them with chattering teeth. It _was_ cold. Finding the proper key, Elle unlocked the door, opened it, and stepped inside, moving immediately to the side, so the men could get in past her. The living room was simply beautiful; all dark cherry wood, mostly decorated in dark reds, and golds. Off to the left was a wide doorway that led to the kitchen- _Joy... I get to cook_- and to the right was a short hall, that would no doubt lead to the stairs, and other rooms.

"Well, ya gotta admit, Ma picked a nice place," said Peter, appreciatively.

Both Elle and Gabriel nodded; Elle more enthusiastically than her "husband". Gabriel was still in a dour mood after learning that his mother had purposefully let Elle nearly be kidnapped. Elle on the other hand had learned that if you held Mrs. Petrelli's schemes against her, eventually, you'd just snap, and tear her head off, and was therefore trying very hard not to think about it.... Though she had _accidentally_ fried Angela's cellphone that morning.

On the ground floor was the living room, kitchen, a small bathroom, and a laundry room. Upstairs was another larger bathroom, three bedrooms- two of which were furnished, the third smaller one had been left bare- and a small office. Elle was quick to claim which room she wanted for Gabriel and herself; something which she had expected to start an argument. Thankfully, it didn't. Since there wasn't much to be brought in- neither she, nor Gabriel had much, and all of Peter's things were in New York- there wasn't much to occupy their time that evening, except getting settled. Unfortunately, this led to things being dreadfully, and awkwardly quiet... Mostly between Peter and Gabriel, as it seemed neither was sure how to deal with the other when they weren't plotting to save the world, or standing up to their mother.

Several tried and failed attempts to make them start talking later, Elle zapped them both, and promptly announced that one of them, she didn't care which, was taking her shopping in the morning, whether they liked it or not.

* * *

**Noah Bennet**_**  
**_**Primatech**

Noah tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, impatiently. He wasn't going to be content until Sandra called him, and let him know that she had taken Claire home. A glance at his watch told him that they _should_ have gotten back to the house, by then. He sighed; he really didn't know why he was worried. No one was after Claire, not now, so why be worried? He just had a nagging little feeling that something was wrong, and he couldn't shake it. He doubted he'd be able to, until he knew Claire was home safe.

Ten minutes later, and still nothing.

Twenty. Nothing.

Thirty.

An hour.

Noah couldn't take it any more. He opened his phone, and started to select Sandra's number, when it rang. The screen read "Sandra Bennet". Thank God.

"Sandra, where have you-"

His wife cut him off, speaking in a very panicked tone, "Noah, she's not here."

Noah could actually feel the color draining from his face, "Sandra, are you sure? Maybe the flight-"

"The flight wasn't delayed, it arrived on time. Claire _wasn't on the plane_," now there was anger mixed in with the panic, "I keep calling her, but there's no answer."

_Please tell me you haven't done what I think you have, Claire_, Noah silently pleaded, trying to think of something to say that would keep his wife from worrying anymore than she already was.. "Sandra-" he started, but again she cut him off.

"Don't you say a damn word if it ain't the truth, Noah Bennet," she hissed, "Not a word."

Noah sighed, "Nathan Petrelli offered her a job the other day," he said through clenched teeth, "I think she took it."

"...A job?" Sandra sounded as if she suspected that he was lying, "Doing _what_?"

Noah sighed again, "The very thing I've been trying to stop. Go home, Sandra. I'll deal with Claire."

"I want my baby girl back, Noah," was all Sandra said before she hung up.

Wondering just how in the hell he was going to fix things _this_ time, Noah scrolled through the numbers on his phone, until he got to Claire's. If she hadn't answered for Sandra, there was no reason to believe that she would answer for him, but he had to try. Had to, because he knew there was no getting into Pinehearst to get her- and he was sure that was where she was. The phone rang, and rang. Noah had almost given up, when it was finally answered.

"Mom get worried when I didn't show?" were the first words out of his daughter's mouth.

"Claire, where the _hell_ are you?" He knew the answer, but he needed to hear her say it.

"I'm with Nathan, " came the straight-forward reply.

"Why are you doing this, Claire?... You know what Pinehearst is doing is wrong."

"And what the Company does isn't? Locking people with abilities up, using them?... Letting monsters like Sylar go free."

He should have known that's what this was about. "Claire, stop throwing your Goddamned hissy fit over Gabriel and Elle, and come back."

"_That's _what you think this is? A tantrum?" Claire's tone suggested the idea was ridiculous.

"It certainly seems like it," Noah shot back. Because it did. It seemed like a world-class tantrum thrown by a spoiled little brat because no one saw things _her_ way.

"Well, it's not," Claire insisted, after a brief pause, "I just finally see where I belong."

Noah started to reply when the line went dead. Claire had hung up on him.

Five attempts to reach her again gained him nothing... So he went for six.

* * *

**Gabriel, Elle, & Peter**

**Denver, Colorado**

The first morning in the house was much like the first night; awkward. Though, at least the awkward silences between all of them were broken when the fight over who got dibs on the shower first- as only the second floor bathroom _had_ a tub/shower- started. Not surprisingly, Elle won. Though she did so by cheating; by simply waiting until the men were so engrossed in their argument, they didn't see her sneaking out of her room, and into the bathroom until the door had already been closed and locked.

The several days following that remained silent, and strange, as well, as the trio tried to grow accustomed to living together- it was easier on Gabriel and Elle, as they were already used to each other's constant company. Common ground was only found when the time for Christmas decorating came upon them- though common ground between Peter and Gabriel had come before that, when Elle attempted to cook... After the first time the stove caught on fire, Peter became the designated chef-and both Gabriel and Peter were determined to do the whole nine yards; tree, stockings, and lights. Elle didn't see the big fuss; Christmas was another day for her. Presents had been given only on rare occasions, and they were usually nothing more than a small toy from some of the agents that she now realized had pitied her, when she was a child. Both of the Petrelli brothers, though, seemed determined that they have, as they said, a "real" Christmas.

...As long as it gave them all something to talk about, and _do_, Elle was fine with it.

Peter was the one who went out and got the tree, something he claimed he'd been in charge of since he was a kid. Elle picked the various decorations, and Gabriel attached lights to the outside of the house (with more than a little help from his telekinesis, otherwise, he might have killed himself attempting to reach a few areas).

However, despite the determination for it to be a "real" Christmas, underneath the tree remained devoid of any packages. Gabriel couldn't even imagine what that would be like... If there were ever people who were better off not exchanging gifts, it was them- though he did want to get something for Elle... After all, what were their relationships to each other, really? He and Peter certainly weren't friends- though they had gotten to the point that they could sit around, debating who had the cooler abilities... Or, who'd HAD the cooler abilities, since Peter's were gone, and Gabriel didn't have half the ones he'd once had- Peter and Elle were something almost similar to friends, if you stood back and squinted a bit, and Gabriel and Elle... They still hadn't really discussed that. He still knew he loved her. He was no longer _almost_ certain that she loved him; he was completely certain. According to their cover story, they were married. In reality, they were a strange type of lovers... And Peter could unfortunately- for _him_ anyway- inform anyone who really wanted to know that the sex life between his brother and his girl wasn't lacking in the slightest.

But back to the Christmas preparations: one tradition that Elle seemed to adore was the mistletoe. In fact, Gabriel was sure she carried a sprig of it with her, simply so she could ambush him at random intervals. She had even surprised Peter once, by dangling a bit over his head, and kissing him soundly. Unfortunately for Peter, she had also added a strong dose of electricity to it... He had been walking around getting shocked by everything he touched for the rest of that day, and his constant yelps had been of great amusement to Elle. Gabriel might have found it amusing as well, had he not suffered the same fate the day before.

It was Christmas eve- they'd been in the house for three weeks- when Elle decided that she liked the relative normalcy of everything. No running for their lives, no stuffy Primatech walls, no missions to save- or end- the world, just their normal day-to-day routines. She also decided that there was something else she wanted to do the _normal_ way. Without telling Gabriel or Peter where she was going, Elle snuck out into the cold, and the snow- though it was made more bearable by the fact that the sun was actually out that day- to walk two blocks up to the pharmacy. Over the past month she had taken the word of a bunch of drawings, and a manipulative old bitch that she was pregnant. While she didn't doubt that fact, she wanted clear and undeniable proof held in her hands; and so a pregnancy test was in order... It also helped to add to the "normal" factor that had recently become important to her.

The clerk at the front counter initially gave Elle a condescending look, as she scanned the barcode on the test. The look quickly disappeared when Elle made damn sure the rings on her left hand were seen... Of course, the marriage wasn't _real_, but Elle so hated to be looked down on.

Two blocks, and several minutes later found Elle sitting in the bathroom at home, staring down at one simple word; "Pregnant". She actually let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She'd been half-afraid that it would end up being negative. She would have been upset, she realized... In the past month she had come to terms with being pregnant, and was looking forward to being a mother; was really and truly looking forward to it. She wondered, for a brief moment, if Gabriel was as well. It was only a brief moment, because she realized that it was time for her and Gabriel to talk. About everything; them, the baby, what they were going to do...

So, later that night, when she lay snuggled close to his side, she made up her mind that that talk was going to happen _now_. Unfortunately, by the time she had decided that, it was well past midnight, and Gabriel was already asleep. Scooting upwards, Elle tried to rouse him with a kiss. That however did nothing but get a sleepy groan from her companion. She tried again, this time adding a little extra jolt to get him up.

That woke him, "Alright, alright I'm awake..." he blinked for a moment, "What?"

"I'm pregnant," Elle stated matter-of-factly.

Gabriel looked at her like she was crazy, "I'm aware of that, Elle.... What's this about?"

"The fact that we haven't bothered to talk about any of this, in the last month," Elle replied, "I mean, what happens when the baby's born? Do we stay here? I don't even know what _we_ are... Don't know how you feel-"

Gabriel stopped her there, "I love you."

Elle blinked at him for a moment, "What?"

"I said I love you."

Her bemused expression gave way to a grin. With the grin firmly planted on her face, she kissed him softly."I love you too," she kissed him again, then continued, "So, about everything else..."

"I don't want to stay here," Gabriel said, twirling a curl of her hair over his fingers, "Not under my mother's control. Once the baby's born, I think we should leave. I'm not stupid enough to believe that Mom won't try something, and I'd really prefer to avoid killing her... Which I'd have to do, if she hurt you, or _him_... For now though, we stay here. As for what we are, apparently we're a couple, in love, and expecting a baby."

Elle grinned even wider, at that. "Sounds perfect."

----

Christmas morning was spent much the way the others were, though the regularly scheduled fight over the shower was skipped, and pajamas were left on through out the day, no one really feeling the need to get dressed. Peter and Gabriel both enjoyed trading stories about past Christmases, and who'd ended up getting the worst gifts (Peter won, when he told them of the time that Nathan had given him a pink frilly dress, the year he turned sixteen... Or, he won until he said that wrapped up in the dress were keys to the new car waiting for him outside.), and who'd created the most disasters on the holidays. THAT one went to Gabriel, when he explained that, when he was six, he'd knocked a candle over, and set the tree on fire.

Gabriel surprised Elle that evening by handing her a small jewelry box which held a pair of sapphire earrings, with silver lightning bolts dangling from them. Gabriel hadn't expected to be tackled to the floor, or he might have been sitting when he gave her the gift.

----

After Christmas, the trio was more comfortable with each other, and life went a little more smoothly, making time seemingly fly by, instead of drag in the awkward silences. So, it seemed that no time had passed between Christmas, and the time when Elle's morning sickness began. It made not just Elle's life miserable, but Peter and Gabriel's as well, since they were the ones she complained to- or in Gabriel's case, the one that got woken up at odd hours, when Elle scrambled out of bed, usually kicking him, to rush to the bathroom- and the ones that had to make sure any foods that set her off were kept out of the house. Elle hadn't seemed to believe Peter when he said the morning sickness was perfectly normal, at first, but after an hour long argument, had accepted the fact that she was _not_ dying, and was going to have to suffer through a little while more of being well acquainted with the toilet bowl.

When the morning sickness ended, other symptoms made themselves known: mood swings, and extreme lust. Peter made it his mission in life to be out of the house as much as possible for BOTH reasons. For the mood swings: one moment, Elle would be bouncing around the house in a perfectly good mood, singing something or other, and the next would be zapping anything and everything for no apparent reason (and Peter didn't like to be one of the "anything and everything"). For the lust: he didn't particularly want to be witness to his kinda-sister-in-law jumping his brother whenever the mood struck her, regardless of location, or current company.... It wasn't good for his mental health. Unfortunately, he couldn't request a place of his own, because his entire purpose for having come with them was to act as Elle's doctor. Sending her to any doctor there in Denver didn't seem like a particularly good plan, due to her tendency to electrocute things at random- even without the help of the mood swings- and no doubt, a headline about a doctor being electrocuted to death when a new patient got annoyed with him would have Nathan sending people to check things out.

At four months, there was the slightest bulge in Elle's belly, which had put the blond in a chipper mood all day, the day she'd noticed. It was nice, she'd informed the men, to have visible proof of the baby, a sentiment which Gabriel had shared. The day she felt the baby moving for the first time had been a day full of excitement, as well. However, complaints started again when even her baggiest clothes stopped fitting her, and she was forced to accept that it was either maternity clothes, or sweats, and t-shirts for the next several months... She chose the former.

During May (Elle was now seven months along, by which time Gabriel had started describing her as looking like a toothpick that swallowed a basket ball) they were granted with a surprise visit by Noah Bennet. He seemed shocked that all three of them were still alive, and able to live in a semi-peaceful manner together.

"To be honest," he said, "I expected to hear screaming as I was coming up the sidewalk."

"Had you come a little earlier, you'd have heard it," Peter mumbled, with a pointed look at Elle, whom had earlier gotten annoyed with a speck of grime- which Peter was sure had been imaginary- on a plate, and had proceeded to use the plate for target practice.

Noah ignored the comment, "Angela sent me to make sure you hadn't killed each other yet... Not her exact words, but I'm sure that was her meaning."

Something was up, Elle thought. Glasses seemed more dour than normal. Surprising Gabriel by flopping into his lap, she asked Noah, "What's the matter Bennet? Claire-bear die again, or something?"

Noah winced at that, "No... She's working for Pinehearst.. Left the same day you did."

"What!?" came the alarmed cry from all three of the house residents.

"Why?" was how Peter continued.

"Did she know where Angela was sending us?" came from Elle and Gabriel.

"I don't know, and no, she didn't," Noah replied, tiredly. He sank into on of the free chairs, "I've been trying for months to reach her... Nothing."

Peter shook his head, "It's what I saw, in the future..." he muttered. All of them had heard that story before. They had no desire to see it come true.

"So, Pom-Pom's one of the bad gu-" Elle cut herself off, looking surprised. The surprise gave way to a smile, "He's kicking," she said by way of explanation, when everyone gave her strange looks. Gabriel's arms instantly went around his "wife's" ever-expanding middle, to feel. After a second, he smiled as well.

Noah seemed glad for the change of topic. "How's everything going?" he asked Peter, with a nod towards the couple, who were now in their own little world.

Peter shrugged, "Perfectly fine, as far as I can tell. Not exactly my field of expertise, though."

"Have you bothered to fix up a nursery?"

No one answered that one. They hadn't, because they didn't plan on sticking around, even Peter knew that, and understood. He wasn't keen on staying under his mother's thumb, either. They _had_ discussed names though, Peter had even been included in this process, but he kept suggesting "Noah". He insisted that's what the boy had been named in the future, but neither of them could really see _why_, so further discussions about names had been devoid of Peter's influence.

Noah left the same day he'd arrived, saying Angela had sent him simply because she hadn't wanted to call, and risk a trace, and of course hadn't wanted to come herself. And so, life went back to normal, with Elle complaining about her back, and the fact that she was sure the baby wasn't just sitting on her bladder, he was _jumping_ on it. Every time the baby kicked brought a bright smile to her face, though, and any sour mood was erased.

By July, she couldn't sit still. She was always up, and moving around. She kept Gabriel awake at night with her constant moving. She also developed a strange obsession with keeping everything spotless, and during the worst of the times when she was unable to stay still, she could be found rearranging small things, constantly rewashing dishes, scrubbing the kitchen counters repeatedly. The sleep-deprived soon-to-be parents both had short tempers that month, and Peter made sure to stay out of the way. Both were increasingly nervous as well... Where before, they'd been happy, not worrying about anything, really, they were both now completely paranoid. Peter knew it was just nerves, but really, they were driving him insane. Though when they actually calmed themselves- and Elle actually managed to sit someplace for more than five seconds- their previous eager anticipation returned... In fact, the nervousness had begun to wear down a bit... Until the day the first phone call from anyone in over eight months came.

After having put the phone on speaker, so everyone could hear, Peter spoke, "Hello?"

"Peter?" Angela's voice, "Is everyone listening?"

"Yeah, mom," said Gabriel, before Peter could, "Why are you calling?"

"Because I had a dream last night, Gabriel," there was actually fear in her voice.

Elle's first thought was the baby, and her hands went instantly to the top of her stomach- she was rewarded for this gesture by a hard kick- "About what?"

"About Pinehearst," Angela replied, "Nathan knows where you are... He's sending Claire, and two others to get you, Elle."

The color drained from all their faces, "When, mom?" Peter asked.

"I don't know, but Noah Bennet is on his way to bring you back here, he should be there in a few hours, I suggest you prepare to leave."

Before any more could be said, the line went dead.

* * *

**Nathan, Claire, & Damian**

**Pinehearst**

"Did we get it?" Claire asked the computer geek (technopath, he preferred to be called) as she ponytailed her now-brunette hair, "Do we know where they are?"

"Yeeeeeee-es," said Damian, removing his hand from the laptop screen, "They are in Denver. Give me a minute, and I can have an exact address."

Claire smirked at her bio-dad, "Am I taking Jessica with me?"

Nathan nodded, "And whats-his-name... The skinny guy.... super-strength..."

"Cody," Claire supplied.

"Ah yes... Cody. Cody and Jessica. Go. If you hurry, you can beat Bennet there."

* * *

And so, by Angela trying to prevent the future, she makes it happen. Funny how that works, ain't it?

forgive me for glossing so quickly over life in Denver, and the pregnancy, but I'm not an expert, so I preferred to just get it over with.... Also, not much happened during those months...

I think you all know what's coming next chapter ;)


	8. Chapter 7

Meant to have this sooner, but I fell briefly to the curse of Chapter 7 (I always hit a hard bit of writer's block in chapter 7 of a story... don't know why).

Not entirely happy with this chapter... But, I hope the next will make up for any shortcomings in this one. also, more scenes from the preview in here.

Since this is the last update until after christmas: Merry Christmas everybody!

Poetz: I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter, and the dysfunctional family, and I hope you enjoy this one.

Ace: No, the I Am Become Death future is NOT what I have planned. Daphne will not be working for Pinehearst. In fact, in all the little side-stories I've created in my head, for this, she and Matt are now living with Molly, in a new apartment in New York. And since almost a year has passed since they moved in together, I'm sure Matt's getting ready to "pop the question".

Lea: Well, there's Claire being a total bitch, in this. Not sure about EVIL, since as Noah thought, before, she comes off more as a child throwing a fit than a villain =P As for Matt and Mohinder: Mohinder is still working for Pinehearst- and is likely cured by now- and Matt, well, look up ;)  


* * *

Chapter 7

**Gabriel, Elle, Peter, and Noah**

**Denver, Colorado**

Things were not going well; not well at all. Noah had arrived sooner than expected, which was about the only good thing that had happened, since Angela had called. They were halfway out of the house when Elle felt the first contraction. _Shit, shit, shit, __**shit**__! Not __**now**__!_ She stopped dead in the doorway, gripping the frame until her knuckles turned white.

"Gabriel..." she called in a shaky voice.

Apparently the tone caught the attention of all the men, because they all turned to see what was wrong. Before Elle could inform them of her predicament, another contraction hit.

"Oh, not good," Peter said.

"Gabriel, get her, we've got to go, _now_," said Noah.

In a second, Gabriel was at her side, picking her up- she was sure he was using telekinesis, to help with the process- and was carrying her out the door. They were stopped, however, when from behind the left column of the porch came a forcefully swung board, that clubbed Noah right in the face. Noah toppled backwards, into Peter, taking him down as well. From behind the column stepped Claire, and from behind the other came the redhead Haitian-type, and a tall, skinny black man.

"Hi, Dad," said Claire, as Noah got to his feet, nose bleeding, and tossed his now broken glasses aside.

The redhead grinned at Elle, "Well, lookie here, Miss Bugzapper went and gained herself a few pounds."

Elle felt Gabriel's grip on her tighten, and she might have been grateful for the extra sense of protection, if not for the complete panic her mind had gone into- which was only made worse by constant pain- and the fact that she was trying desperately not to overload. She didn't want to kill Peter, and Noah, and she was entirely sure what it would do to _her_. The trio of doom stepped up on to the porch, with Claire still keeping a hold on the board she'd hit Noah with. The redhead had her hand hovering over a pistol holstered at her him, and the skinny man had no weapon.

"Claire, don't do this," said Peter, "Remember what I told you, about the alley?"

"I'm seeing why that would happen, now," Claire spat back, "You're going to protect _them_?" she pointed at Elle, and Gabriel, "A few months ago, you would have been happy to help me kill them. Now, I guess I get to do it myself... Just a few less monsters in the world."

"From cheerleader, to cold hard killer," Gabriel hissed at his niece, "Who's the monster now, Claire?"

"Shut up!" Claire shouted, "You're the monster! You ruined _EVERYTHING!_"

"Claire, stop this," said Noah, hand inching for his gun, "All three of you turn around, and walk away now, and no one has to get hurt."

"Sorry, Pops," said the skinny man, "We got our orders... Blondie's coming with us."

That was when all hell broke loose; Claire moved forward, swinging the board at Noah, the skinny man swung a fist at Peter- and knocked him back into the house- and the redhead drew her gun. It would all have been over quickly, if not for the redhead, whom now kept Elle and Gabriel's abilities from working. Gabriel, realizing he wasn't going to be able to get out of this one with sheer brute force, turned and started to run, hoping to get to the back door, and get out, with Elle. His plan was stopped when the black man, unhindered, managed to cut him off.

Peter struggled to his feet, head spinning from the force with which he'd hit the wall. As soon as his vision cleared, he surveyed the living room, taking in the chaos: Gabriel was duking it out with the black man, Elle was huddled in the kitchen doorway, eyes squeezed shut, tears falling down her cheeks, the redhead was leaning against the wall, apparently oblivious that her quarry now sat unprotected ten feet from her, and Claire was hitting Noah with the board. The gun was missing from Noah's holster. Peter scanned the floor for it, or anything else to use as a weapon. He spotted the gun under the coffee table, and ran for it. He stopped, when he heard a click come from behind him, and muzzle of a gun press to the back of his head.

"Don't even think about it, honey," that had to be the redhead.

Elle could only watch, feeling incredibly helpless- and in incredible amounts of pain. She'd never been a good fighter, without her powers... Now she was without her powers, and in labor. Life sucked... Until she spotted the knife block on the counter. Determined that she was going to help in some way, Elle forced herself to her feet, and grabbed one of the knives. That was all she could manage on her feet, though, and she had to slide back to the floor. She wasn't going to let that stop her, though. Scooting across the floor as quickly as was possible, knife in hand, she made her way for Peter, and the redhead. If she got that bitch out of the way, then everything would be going good. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite as high as she'd hoped to be, by the time she reached her, and the only body part she could reach was the woman's leg. _That'll work_. Elle thought, drawing her hand back, then bringing it towards the woman's lower leg with as much force as she could manage. She buried the knife into the woman's flesh all the way up to the handle. The redhead screamed, but the scream was drowned out by a gunshot. Peter dropped at the same time as the woman, bleeding from the shoulder.

Across the room, Claire swung hard at Noah, the board impacting against the side of his head. The force of the blow made Noah drop. Smirking with satisfaction, Claire surveyed the room. Sylar and Cody were still going at, Peter was bleeding, and Jessica was yanking a knife out of her leg, and tossing it across the floor... And Elle sat there, helpless. Claire grinned, and moved towards the blond. Elle tried to back away, but Claire still got hold of her. She'd spent every minute of the past eight and a half months training, and now her first mission was going to be a success. Nathan was going to be proud, she knew that much. With a wide grin, Claire started to drag Elle towards the door.

She didn't hear Jessica shout the warning to her, didn't hear the footsteps behind her. All she heard was the sickening squelching noise, and felt the blade being driven into her brain. She heard her dad say he was sorry. Then there was nothing.

Claire dropped to the floor like a rock. Peter couldn't believe what he'd just seen; Noah Bennet had just killed his daughter... But he didn't have time to dwell on that; Gabriel was still in trouble. He grabbed the gun he'd been going for before, and succeeded in getting it this time. The redhead tried to stop him, but a hard kick to the face put her out of commission. Hoping that meant she was no longer blocking Gabriel's abilities- because if he missed, and hit Gabriel, and Gabriel couldn't heal...- he fired several shots in the direction of the last fight going on. The black man fell, though Peter wasn't sure if he was dead.

"Thanks, Peter," Gabriel panted.

"No problem. What are brothers for?"

Elle and Noah were paying no attention to the conversation; Elle was too busy staring at Noah in disbelief. Glasses had just killed Pom-Pom...For _her_. To save her. Noah Bennet had just saved Elle Bishop at the cost of his own daughter...

She might have spent a while longer being amazed- and realizing why the baby might have been named Noah- had it not been for the fact that she was suddenly made aware of that fact that she was still in labor, regardless of the fact that she'd prefer to wait until they were somewhere safe. Unfortunately, the baby didn't seem to want to comply with his mother's wishes. Impatient little bugger.

"A little help, please?" Elle asked.

Noah nodded, "Let's try this again. Gabriel, get her. Peter, can you make it to the car?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Peter replied through a grimace.

For the second time that evening, Gabriel was picking Elle up, and carrying her out of the house. This time they weren't interrupted.

---

Elle suffered no illusions about making it back to Primatech before the baby was born, none what-so-ever. She was currently half-lying on the back seat of Noah's car, being supported by a nervous Gabriel. Through her gasping breaths, she managed to speak to Noah.

"Hey... Noah... What happened back there.... Thanks...." She really meant it, too, and sincere thank yous weren't something she doled out often. If Noah heard her, though, he ignored her, keeping his cold gaze on the road ahead. Elle wasn't going to hold it against him though; he had just killed his precious Claire-bear... Even if she was going to be back up and running again, the moment the redheaded bitch woke up, and pulled the knife out.

About five minutes later, Elle was wishing someone would put a knife in the back of _her_ head, because, fuck, this hurt. "I am _never_ doing this again," she informed Gabriel, making him chuckle anxiously, "EVER." She didn't care how many brats he wanted, if he wanted more, _he_ could be the one to be shoving them out, because _she_ wasn't doing it again.

When the screaming started, they _all_ wanted the suffering to end, before their ear drums were split.

Eventually, Noah had to pull the car over- as soon as they were well out of the city- and act as nurse, since Peter was too busy bleeding on the shotgun seat to do more than give vague directions. Unfortunately for Noah and Peter- who unlike Gabriel, weren't capable of healing- being anywhere near Elle wasn't the greatest plan if they wanted to live, since she had lost control of her ability, and was randomly shocking things; namely the men. Thankfully it wasn't lethal doses.

* * *

**Claire, Jessica, & Cody  
Denver, Colorado**

The moment the knife was removed from her head, Claire sucked in a breath. Coughing, she forced herself to sit up.

"What happened? Where are they?" she didn't ask the question to anyone in particular, but Jessica answered anyway.

"Your dad killed ya... They knocked me out," she nodded towards Cody, "Shot poor Cody."

Claire sighed, "I guess it's time for me to put my blood to use, then." She got to her feet, grabbing the knife that had killed her, intending on saving her partner's life, "Then we're tracking them down."

"As long as I can kill the blond bitch, when we have the brat... Bitch stabbed me..."

* * *

**Gabriel, Elle, Noah, Peter & ???  
20 Miles outside Denver, Colorado**

At approximately eight-forty-five on July 17th, 2009, Gabriel and Elle's son was born... And it was a miracle everyone survived to that point. The boy was cleaned as much as possible with Noah's jacket, then wrapped in Gabriel's, then placed in a bedraggled Elle's arms.

She was completely enthralled by the child from the moment she saw him, and completely in love with him. Half-crying, and half-laughing, Elle turned her head back to look at Gabriel, as if to make sure he was looking... Looking at their son. Gabriel was smiling as well, and when she turned, he kissed her, before they both went back to simply staring at the now-quiet little boy tucked in his mother's arms. For a moment, nothing but the three of them existed: nothing but the new family. Both were pretty sure they'd never been happier. _He's perfect_.

"Hey, little guy," said Gabriel, running one finger over the baby's cheek, "You've given your mom a tough day."

"It was worth it," said Elle, "Very worth it."

"So, what are you going to call him?" Peter asked from the front, breaking the spell, "I'd like to know my nephew's name before I pass out."

Elle bit her lip, thinking. During the last few hours, when she'd actually had a few seconds of clear thought, one had kept coming back to her; what had happened at the house. She glanced at Gabriel, and he nodded, as if he knew what was on her mind.

"Noah," she said, making Noah (Bennet) look at her like she was crazy. He started to say something that sounded suspiciously like "no" but Elle continued as if he weren't there, "Noah Peter Grey."

Noah coughed, "_Why_?"

"Because, you saved my life, and his life, twice..." Elle replied... _I should have listened to Peter months ago, and just decided on Noah then_.

Peter was wearing a self-satisfied smirk that had an "I knew it" look to it, "And my name's in there because?"

"Because you're my brother, and you saved me," said Gabriel.

"Alright," said Peter, "I know his name... I can die now," it was meant as a joke, but it darkened the mood. Peter was still shot- though not bleeding as much since his shirt had been used as a makeshift bandage- and still in need of help.

"We need to get back to Primatech," Noah muttered, still looking uncomfortable with the baby having been named after him. He climbed into the front seat, and they were off again.

Neither of the new parents hardly noticed that they were moving again. Little Noah- since that was what Elle decided he was to be called when in the presence of Bennet- once again had their full attention. If someone had told either of them, back in the Canfield house, that this was what either of them would be doing in nine months, both would have laughed, and thought the informat was more insane than they were... Yet, here they were, sitting in the back of a now very dirty car, looking down at their baby boy.

_Dream come true_, was all Elle managed to think, before the exhaustion took over, and she fell into a well-earned sleep.

* * *

**Angela Petrelli  
Primatech**

Angela tapped her foot impatiently on the sidewalk. They should have arrived hours ago. She got no answer when she tried to call Bennet's phone, and they certainly hadn't called her, to let her know what was going on. She was beginning to wonder if maybe something had gone wrong; if Nathan had gotten his agents there first. But no, that couldn't be it. Nathan was too much like his father; he would have called to tell her that he won. So, something else had happened. She just wished that _someone_ would call her, and let her know _what_. Her dream hadn't shown her what would happen after Claire and her partners had arrived, hadn't shown if anyone would be killed. All she'd seen was Claire, and her accomplices arriving at the house in Denver.

She was almost ready to accept that they likely weren't coming back when Noah's car came into view. She sighed in relief, and watched as the four clambered out of the car... No, wait. There were _five_. Peter was being held up by Noah- _My God! What's happened!?_- and Gabriel had an arm around Elle, whom was clutching a squirming bundle of cloth, as though she were afraid it might vanish. _So, that's what took so long_.

As they approached, Angela spoke, "So, you didn't get out quite in time," this was said with a nod at Peter.

"Nice to see you too, mom," Peter muttered under his breath, "We're fine, thanks for asking."

"Get him inside, to the infirmary," Angela said, to Noah. As the man moved past, supporting her youngest, she turned her attention to Gabriel, and Elle, "I suppose it's pointless of me to ask if you'll be leaving my grandson in better care?"

Elle glared at her, and pulled the baby closer to her chest. Gabriel only sighed, suggesting he'd expected such a request. Without saying a word, they moved past her to get inside. As they walked away, Angela asked, without turning around, "What's his name?"

"Noah," came the reply, from both of them.

Angela nodded, a slight smile twitching at the corners of her mouth; as she'd expected.

-----

As long as they were in this damned building, Gabriel wasn't letting Noah or Elle out of his sight. He didn't trust Angela; likely never would. Beyond that, he was paranoid. The last time they'd been here, a Pinehearst agent had been able to literally reach through the walls, and grab Elle; he wasn't keen on letting that happen again. Though, now they likely wouldn't bother with Elle. They'd grab Noah..._Little_ Noah, as Elle had insisted on calling him, throughout the twelve-hour drive from Denver, to Odessa. There was only one requirement Gabriel had for that nickname; it was never to be used in front of friends, or dates, because such a pet name would only bring the boy embarrassment. Gabriel knew _that_ from experience, as his mother- Virginia- had always had some pet name for him that she insisted on using in front of the few friends he'd had, and it had resulted in constant teasing...Though he supposed being the dictionary definition of a geek hadn't helped matters either.

He'd come a long way from that though. From watchmaking geek, to superpowered serial killer, to a dad, all in the course of less than two years... Nuts. _But,_ he thought, looking at the sleeping child in his arms, _all that led here..._ Selfish though it may have been, if he had the chance, he'd do it all the same way again, if only to get to where he was then; happy, with a family. Family of course referring to Elle, Noah, and Peter. After all, as far as the Petrellis went, Peter was the only one who really acted like family. His mother always had her own agenda, his older brother wanted to rule the world, and his niece wanted him dead, and her cousin used as a lab rat. Not that he himself was one to talk, given the aforementioned serial killer issue.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" the peaceful quiet of the infirmary- where Gabriel and Elle were waiting to see if Peter was actually going to be okay- was shattered by Meredith Gordon- Claire's birth mother, to Gabriel's knowledge. Why she was there, he didn't know, but she had been talking with Noah (Bennet) as his head was checked out.

Gabriel grimaced at the sound; it not only made Elle shoot up in her chair, where she had been dozing, but it also caused little Noah to stir. Thankfully, he seemed to be in too deep a sleep to be fully roused.

"Meredith, don't shout," Gabriel heard Noah say, likely with a grimace of his own; Claire had hit him pretty hard... multiple times... no doubt he had a serious headache at best, a concussion at worst.

"I'll shout if I damn well please, Noah!" came the (loud) reply, "You _killed_ my baby girl!"

"Did you forget that she's _my_ daughter, too? I had no choice... It was that, or let her walk out. She's probably back at Pinehearst, sulking, by now anyway."

"_Sulking_!? Noah, you just said you put a knife in the back of her head!"

"Which was probably pulled out five minutes after we left," Gabriel put in. He knew he probably should have stayed out of it, since _his_ opinions could well have set Meredith off again, and had her shouting, during which she _would_ wake the baby, but despite his original dislike for Bennet, he didn't want to see the man being berated for having done the right thing...

"Yeah," Elle muttered, so no one but Gabriel could hear, "Pom-Pom's like a damn cockroach... can't get rid of her with anything short of a nuclear bomb."

"Actually, a cockroach could possibly survive a nuclear explosion," Gabriel informed her.

"_You_ stay out of this," Meredith spat at Gabriel. Not that he hadn't expected such treatment. He _had_ attacked her daughter. No. _Sylar_ had. Not him.

Before the argument could continue- or worsen- Peter reappeared, now in a clean shirt, with his arm in a sling, and no longer looking like he was going to fall over dead at any second. And if Peter was okay, that meant it was time to talk to mommy dearest, and figure out what to do next, because Pinehearst wouldn't likely wait long before they were back to their kidnapping attempts.

-----

"So, you plan to just go on the run?" Angela sounded as if this plan of action amused her, "Instead of doing the _logical_ thing, and leaving my grandson in much safer care, you want to run?"

"Do we really have to go through this again, Mrs. Petrelli?" Elle sighed, "_Our _son stays with us, end of story." Elle was _not_ letting her baby go.

"Very well.. Where exactly do you intend to go?"

"Somewhere with no ties to the family, and with no one aware of the location... Not even anyone here," Gabriel already had it planned in his head, "Not even you, mom." It wasn't that he didn't trust her to keep their location secret, it was that he wouldn't have put it past her to attempt to take Noah...

"And if I should need to contact you?"

Both Gabriel and Elle glanced at Peter; he'd already agreed to this plan of action earlier, but he nodded anyway, "Peter will know where we are," said Elle, "And how to contact us... _Only_ Peter."

Peter, and Noah (Bennet) were the only people they really trusted, but Noah already seemed uncomfortable with little Noah having been named after him, it might have caused his brain to implode, if they trusted him with their whereabouts... So, Peter it was.

Angela actually looked surprised; as if she thought the plan was actually a good one. "If you're certain..." nods came from all around, "Then I'll see what I can arrange, as far as new identities go. In the meantime, I suggest you figure out where you're going, and what you'll do when you get there."

* * *

Interesting fact: Cockroaches CAN survive a nuclear explosion... however, EVENTUALLY the radiation kills them... just not as quickly as people... and a very select few don't die (Mythbusters, FTW!)

I hope that Noah defending Elle at the expense of his daughter... AGAIN... was a sufficient reason for the baby to be named for him.

The next chapter was originally meant to be part of this one, but, when I made a few changes (originally, Elle's 9th month was going to be a chapter all it's own, and include the kidnapping attempt, then THIS chapter would be Noah's birth, and the bridging between now, and the future which I gave you a preview of in the prologue) it didn't fit any more, so NEXT chapter will be the bridging between the present timeline, and the 4-years-in-the-future-chapters (I know it says 5 in the prologue, but at the time of the prologue, it WAS about 5... now it's only 4).


	9. Interlude

This doesn't even qualify as a chapter, so it's not labeled as such. Just the bridging between the two timelines.

Martin: There has not been a situation during which Peter would be desperate enough to go against his beliefs, and dose himself with the formula... And I happen to think Peter's a bit smarter without his abilities; he doesn't rely on the abilities constantly, and actually has to think about what he's doing.

Lea: Little Noah, and Daniella? Hahaha, that's a cute idea, actually... Noah's going to meet Daniella in an upcoming chapter...

Poetz: Bennet/Elle bonding is always fun =P. And yeah, so far with what I have planned, Elle is quite vicious when it comes to keeping her boy safe.

Merry Christmas every body. The next REAL chapter will be up as soon as I am done writing it.  


* * *

Interlude

**Year 1**

**Gabriel, Elle, & Little Noah**

**  
**The first year, the new family lived in California, under the name "Knight". Elle stayed home with the baby, Gabriel worked repairing just about anything- computers, watches, phones- and quickly became fairly well known for his unique talents.  
It was harder, there, than it had been in Denver. In Denver, they had avoided people, had kept to themselves... Here, they were on their own, no more help from Angela, so it was work, or be homeless... And Gabriel could now tell a normal person from a "special" simply by studying them for a moment. It was surprising, the amount of people who had abilities. Some likely weren't even aware it was an ability. For the most part, Gabriel was able to keep Sylar quiet, but there were times when he almost slipped... Never slipped enough to pin someone against a wall, but slipped enough to actually think about it, to start the movements that would do it. One near victim was a teenager by the name of West, who came in on a regular basis to have a wide array of things fixed. Gabriel knew he could fly (aside from being able to spot someone with an ability, he'd seen the boy take off when he thought no one was looking).

Only thoughts of Elle, and Little Noah had saved the kid.

Peter visited occasionally, mostly to see his nephew, and to update them on the current goings on at Primatech. There was no progress made on the Pinehearst front, as the company now had too much political backing for simply killing the owner to work anymore... Or for such an event to go un-investigated. Arthur had been one thing: no one knew he was alive in the first place. Nathan was a Senator, on the other hand, and was therefore a more dangerous target.

Outside of work, the "Knights" kept to themselves. The neighbors whispered that they were an odd family, but nice enough, and that both Elle and Gabriel seemed to be devoted parents. And so they were; Noah wasn't lacking in any attention from either of his parents, and was clearly the center of their little world.

**Matt, Daphne, & Molly**

Shortly after the death of Arthur Petrelli, with Mohinder gone dark side, Matt and Daphne had reclaimed Molly from the school she'd been sent to. A new place in New York was found, and they managed to settle into an almost-normal life. The adoption for Molly that had been pending for so long was finally approved, and Molly Walker became Molly Parkman- and she delighted in calling Matt "dad".

After a year of living together, Matt proposed to Daphne, who accepted. Molly wasn't quite as accepting of Daphne as a parent, as she had been with Matt, but she liked the woman well enough, and she made Matt happy, which counted for a lot in Molly's book.

Turtle remained a permanent resident of the Parkman household.

**Peter**

When not checking up on his brother, and his family, Peter spent his time trying to find _some_ way to legally get rid of Pinehearst. Though there was no such luck. A year and a half after Nathan took over the company, Pinehearst made their "discovery" public. Abilities, however, were _not_ to be sold to the public. They were instead reserved for select groups of soldiers, and later down the road: certain police forces. They had also figured out how to trigger certain abilities, and were therefore able to make sure that the more powerful abilities were kept out of anyone's reach. The fact that there were people born with abilities was kept secret.

And, while it was not exact, Peter knew that the world was heading for the fate he'd seen painted several times, and that was unacceptable.

**Year 2**

In the second year, Senator Nathan Petrelli passed ownership of Pinehearst to his wife, Tracy, when he announced that he planned to run for President.

**Year 3**

**Gabriel, Elle, & Little Noah**

In the third year, the "Knights" had moved to Dallas, Texas. Staying in one place for long didn't suit either Elle or Gabriel's personalities, and the move to Texas meant that Uncle Peter visited more often; visits that were greatly anticipated by Noah, whom adored his uncle.

Noah proved that he was a bright child time, and time again. Before he turned three, he had learned that mommy was a wonderful way to make his toys with dead batteries come back to life. He also knew that when he took something apart, and couldn't quite get it back together the way it had been, daddy could have it as good as new in a matter of minutes. He also loved everybody, though Peter was obviously a favorite, beyond his parents. The few times that Noah Bennet accompanied Peter, little Noah had latched on to his namesake, and stuck to him like velcro. Gabriel once jokingly referred to him as Grandpa Noah, and little Noah instantly decided that he liked this title, and had from that moment onward referred to the man as such, much to Bennet's dislike.

It was also that year that the odd occurrences began.

Elle had been struggling to get a glass from a top shelf, in the kitchen- she hated being short-, when Noah had appeared next to her, looking at the floor around her feet with a puzzled look.

"Mama?" he'd asked, "Why'd ya drop th' glass?"

Confused, Elle had only smiled at her son, "I didn't, honey. See, it's up there."

"Oh... Okay," seemingly satisfied with this answer, the boy had trotted off, likely to take something apart, leaving Elle staring after him wondering what he'd been talking about. About thirty seconds later, she had finally reached the glass, only, when pulling it off the shelf, her hand slipped, and the glass fell to the floor, and shattered.

Another such thing had been on a rather rainy evening when Noah had informed Gabriel that Elle was going to bring home a cat. Gabriel had ignored this bit of information, as Noah had already reached the stage of wanting his own pet- and unlike any normal child, wanted a _cat_ instead of a dog- and he didn't think it was anything more than a wishful thought. He had been rather surprised, later, when Elle came home from what was supposed to have been a quick run to the store, dripping wet, with a mass of wet fur in her arms that might have been a calico, if one looked past the water, and the mud.

Elle had explained that she'd seen the poor creature huddled next to a trash can, and, since she had issues with water herself, had taken pity on it. The cat- which was fluffy, when not looking like a drowned rat, and was indeed a calico- was christened "Fizzgig" by Noah, whom had recently been introduced to The Dark Crystal, and she became Elle's constant shadow (though Noah made many attempts to steal his mother's pet, and as such, Fizzgig spent many an hour hiding under the couch, looking to avoid having her tail pulled).

**Peter**

Peter spent much of his time trying to rally troops, to find someone who would help fight Pinehearst; but for the most part, it seemed people were content to let the company go about their business. The only people- aside from the Primatech crew, of course- that were willing to help were Hiro Nakamura, Ando Masahashi, and Matt and Daphne Parkman. Though, the latter wasn't willing to get directly involved, as she was now pregnant- a girl, Matt had told Peter, to be named Daniella.

Aside from all that, Peter felt useless. All "missions" to destroy shipments of the formula had to be done without him, as he was still powerless. More than once he toyed with the idea of having Hiro bring him a dose... After all, if not for his father, he'd still have his abilities. But, in the end, he always decided not to. He wasn't going to do the very thing he was against, just because he was feeling a bit depressed about being "normal".

There was an upside to being powerless: no worrying about if the slightest hand gesture was going to bring to light an ability he'd gotten from just passing someone in the street. No more wondering if there was going to be repeat of Kirby Plaza, because he couldn't control so many abilities at once... And he also didn't have to worry about giving in to temptation, and just going back in time to "fix" things. Granted, he had learned his lesson about doing that, but still, with the power, the temptation to _try_ had still been there. There was also the relief of not having Gabriel's power weighing on his mind constantly. Gabriel had learned to control it, yes, but that was only after over a year, and many many deaths... And with the added help of having a reason to fight it. Peter doubted he could manage that; after all, even if he WAS able to control the ability, he doubted his mind could survive actually killing anyone- the guilt over the Future Nathan had faded quickly due to the fact that a) it technically hadn't happened yet, and b) the fact that his eldest brother was actually deserving of a quick Sylar haircut. He couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty about thinking that... Not since Nathan had actually won the election, and people were disappearing. Peter knew what he was doing with the captured specials: he was having his scientists, namely Mohinder, examine them, see how a specific power worked, and seeing how to activate that specific ability in another person, with the formula.

...Pinehearst had turned into a high tech Sylar.

**Year 4: 2013**

The fourth year was when everything went wrong.

* * *

  
And thus ends the little snapshots into those 4 years.

...and for the record, anyone who has not seen The Dark Crystal needs to remedy that right away, as it is a great movie... and Fizzgig is awesome. I want him (yeah, Fizzgig is a HE... not in THIS, obviously it's a she in this.... fun fact: almost all calicos are female. A male that is a TRUE calico- there are specific requirements- is a rarity)


	10. Chapter 8

And so we have the first chapter in the Future. This one was a tad difficult to write... Trying to keep Gabe and Elle in-character, while still having them be very devoted parents isn't as easy as one might think.... And despite what the beginning of this one suggests, Noah is actually more mama's boy, than daddy's =P... Should they ever have a girl, she'll likely have her father wrapped around her finger.

for anyone who's wondering, Elle is now 29- mentioned in this- Gabriel and Peter are 32 (basing this off the age given for Peter in season 1), Molly's 14- also mentioned in this... I had to guess for her, and Daniella is a little over a year old.

Cat: No, Elle and West never ran into each other. Only Gabriel met him.

Anyway, hope everyone had a great christmas!  


* * *

Chapter 8

**Gabriel, Elle, & Little Noah  
Dallas, Texas  
2013**

To say that the Knight household was peaceful was a downright lie. If it wasn't Noah racing about the house at breakneck speeds, sounding like a herd of elephants, it was the cat hissing and spitting at whichever of Noah's toys had offended her that day, or it was Elle's music, blasted at top volume to drown out the hissing, and the thundering of her son's feet. Gabriel remained oblivious to it all, for the most part, as once he sat down with a watch to tinker with, nothing entered into his little world.

Though today, he seemed to be having a hard time concentrating, and had no choice but to actually listen to the wide array of racket that went on, on a daily basis. When he started to pay attention, he actually found it all amusing.

Noah was on the floor in front of the living room couch, front half _under_ said couch, with his backside in the air. From the dark depths of the world underneath the sofa came the soft growling of Fizzgig, whom was likely telling the four-year-old to fuck off.

"Maaaamaaaa!" Noah called, as he extracted himself from the realm of the dust bunnies, "Fizzgig won't come out!"

"Leave the poor creature alone, Noah," Elle replied, not looking up from the picture frame she was trying to glue back together; Noah had "accidentally" scared the cat, causing her to scale the bookshelves, and knock a number of photos from their perches.

There was silence for a while, until the growling from the cat turned into all out yowling.

"Noah, I said leave her alone."

Silence again, as Gabriel shook his head, chuckling.

"Mama, make her come out," Noah pleaded with his mother, whom always took Fizzgig's side. When Elle ignored her son's request, Noah switched parents, "Daddy, Mama won't get Fizz out!"

"He's not going to either," Elle cut in, before Gabriel could reply, "You _leave_ that cat _alone_," Gabriel almost laughed at the glare the child gave his mother. "The poor thing doesn-" Elle stopped mid-sentence, when she caught sight of the glare she was receiving, "Don't you give me that look, Noah Peter, I'll zap you into next year." Where most children got a good smack when they disobeyed, Elle was prone to using a small dose of electricity. This saved her from having to actually chase the child around the house to dole out punishment; it also greatly increased her aim.

There were a few moments were it looked as though Noah was going to add a little more backtalk, but he wisely chose to surrender, and scurried out of the room. His path took him right past his father, so as soon as the boy was within range, Gabriel reached out, and pulled Noah into his lap. The four-year-old pretended to be offended by the ambush, but Gabriel could hear the beginnings of a laugh amidst the demands to be let go.

Once Noah had settled down, Gabriel whispered to him, "If you want the cat to come to you, there's a bowl of tuna in the fridge," he kissed the top of his son's head, as he placed the boy back on solid ground, "Just don't tell your mother, got it?"

Noah grinned, and nodded, before taking off towards the kitchen. Unfortunately, as the boy reached the door way, Gabriel felt Elle's hands come to rest on his shoulders, both doling out high doses of electricity. _Whoops... We're busted, kid_. Gabriel thought, just as Elle started to speak.

"Noah, don't you dare try it," as Noah hung his head, and left the kitchen, Elle moved around, and placed herself on Gabriel's lap, and gave him a look that could have peeled paint, "And _you_ stop helping him get into trouble."

Gabriel feigned innocence, "I didn't do anything," Elle raised one eyebrow, skeptically, and Gabriel decided that it was time for a change of subject. So, he leaned forward, and kissed his wife- no longer "wife" since to both of them, it was true... legal or no-, and used one of her tricks as he did so; adding a few sparks. Elle returned the kiss- and the electricity. When they pulled apart, she tried to pretend that she was still annoyed with him, but the scowl disappeared when Gabriel smiled at her. "Remember what today is?"

Elle pretended to think hard on the question for a moment, "Hmm, I don't know... What could November 23rd _possibly_ be?" she kissed him quickly, before continuing, "Five years, to the day..."

Five years since that mission to kidnap Claire, five years since since that first kiss, since the Canfield house, the beach... Five years since it all began. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"What? That we still haven't killed each other, after half a decade?"

Gabriel chuckled, "No. Well, yes. But I meant who would have thought that we, me and you, would be like this, five years ago?"

"Not me," Elle replied, "But then, I was a little too busy worrying about my head being chopped off to think about the future."

Gabriel scowled at her, "I don't see how you can joke about that." After all, it still gave _him_ nightmares; about doing it again... Doing it to Noah...

Elle shrugged, "I guess I've learned to forgive and forget... I think some wise man once said you have to learn to forgive yourself, or it all just keeps building up."

"Hmm," Gabriel pulled her closer to him, "He sounds like a smart guy."

"Oh, he is," Elle smirked, "Very smart. Always hoped he might ask me out one day, yet here I sit, twenty-nine, and I've never been on a real date." They went through this conversation every year, yet both still enjoyed the little game.

There was a hair's width between them now, as Gabriel spoke, "Well, perhaps I could remedy that... Leave Noah with the neighbor's kid, go out someplace nice... Celebrate five years of not killing each other," otherwise known as an anniversary, "Come back here, and-" he was forced to stop with the plans when Elle became impatient, and closed the minuscule distance between them, kissing him. Though, that was somewhere along the lines of where the plans for the day were going, so it worked...

They were interrupted when someone behind them cleared their throat rather loudly. The couple jumped apart, and Gabriel spun his chair around, only to see his twin standing in the door way, arms crossed, and a lopsided smirk on his face.

"C'mon guys..." said Peter, "With the kid in the house? Really?"

Neither could answer before the usual bellow of "UNCLE PETER!" came from down the hall, and Noah came racing into the room, obviously expecting his uncle to catch him, and toss him up into the air, like he usually did. Peter, always the people-pleaser, didn't disappoint, and within seconds, Noah was laughing like mad, as Peter dangled him in the air. When he put Noah back on the floor, Peter's smile vanished.

Sensing that something was wrong, Elle sent Noah off to his room- much to the child's annoyance- and narrowed her eyes at Peter, "What's the matter? Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Peter sighed, "One of the spies we have in Pinehearst say that Nathan knows where you are... One of his precogs drew the house, with all of you outside it..."

Gabriel's hands clenched the arm of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white, "How much time do we have?"

"Knowing Nathan? Not much. He probably has his best on their way here right now."

And by best you mean Claire?" Elle asked, though she already knew the answer. Claire had gotten herself quite the reputation; no one she and her team went after ever escaped. Except for one group, four years before...

Nodding, Peter said, "She's been going by 'Bennet' lately... But it's likely her, and the other two..."

Gabriel remembered the "other two" well. The black man, Cody he believed was the name, had nearly killed him, and the redhead, Jessica, had nearly killed Peter. That had been by sheer luck, that time, but over the years, they, like their leader, had gotten much more adept at kidnapping their fellow Specials. Regardless, they had to leave. Gabriel couldn't die, but his wife and son damn well could, and he wasn't going to risk them, and stick around to fight. He got to his feet, with a sigh.

"Elle, get Noah ready, Peter, help me pack a few things for everyone. We've got to go, before they get here."

"Where _are_ we going to go, Gabriel?" fear had crept into Elle's voice. Few things frightened her more than the possibility of her son being in danger, "We don't have anywhere else..."

Gabriel glanced at Peter, shut his eyes for a moment, and then said, "We'll have to go back to Primatech, for now..." He didn't like that idea. He still wasn't convinced that his mother wouldn't attempt to take Noah from them, "Now let's go, while we can..."

Ten minutes later, they were almost ready to leave. Almost, because halfway to the door, Noah had started protesting the fact that they were leaving, yet Fizzgig was now curled up on Elle's chair, not in the crate that had been bought for trips to the vet, nor did she have her leash on, which was used for simple all-day outings, during which Noah would throw fits if the cat wasn't with them. Both Elle and Gabriel tried to explain to their son why his beloved pet- whom despised him with every fiber of her being- had to be left behind... Just for now. Little Noah, however, was _not_ going to leave willingly without the cat; so, Gabriel picked him up, and was going to carry him kicking and screaming out of the house if he had to.

He didn't get the chance. Much like she had four years ago, Claire interrupted their escape. Only this time, instead of a 2x4 to her father's face, she kicked in the door. There was no time spent on talking this time; the moment the bang came from their niece/cousin's foot on the door, the family was rushing for the kitchen, and the escape the rear door would provide. Elle saw Peter draw a pistol from his jacket, as they ran, and hoped he didn't have to use it.

-----

None of them were really sure how long they ran, but they didn't stop until it was either rest, or fall over. Noah was crying softly in his father's arms, as the latter gasped for breath. Elle doubled over, wheezing, as she tried to force her lungs to re-associate themselves with that wonderful thing called oxygen. She vaguely heard Peter asking if they were alright, but she didn't reply. She wasn't alright. The nice normal life she'd been living for the past four years had been disrupted, and the danger to her baby was no longer something to be put on the back burner of her mind... Now the danger was quite clear, and painfully real, all over again. She had hoped that Nathan would never find them... That if they kept moving every couple of years, they would stay permanently off the grid. She should have known that their happy little life couldn't go on forever, as much as she had hoped it would. Nothing ever lasted forever. Especially not when it was something good. But today of all days? It was as if fate was having a good laugh at the misfortune of the Grey family.

Forcing herself upright, Elle knew what had to be done. It was going to break her heart to do it, but there was no other option; it was the safest course of action. Claire would keep chasing her and Gabriel, under the assumption that they would keep Noah with them at all costs, which meant they had to do the opposite.

"You need to take him," she said to Peter, who in the last five years had become as much a brother to her as he was to Gabriel. She wouldn't have trusted Noah in the care of anyone else.

Both Peter and Gabriel's heads whipped in her direction, and a simultaneous "What?" came from the twins. It might have been amusing, their twin-like synchronized speech, had it been in any other situation.

She spoke to Peter, "Claire is going to keep following _us_, not you."

Peter glanced between her, Gabriel, and little Noah, whom was still crying on his father's shoulder, then hung his head in resignation, "Where should I take him?"

It was Gabriel that answered that one, albeit reluctantly, "The Parkmans..." he hadn't seen the Parkmans since the night he'd killed his father, but Pete had told him about them, "The blond... Daphne, could get you and him out if anything went wrong..."

Peter still didn't look too sure about this plan, "Alright... There's a teleporter who lives here, works for the Company... I can get him to take me to New York." All three nodded together, and thus it was decided.

Gabriel pried Noah from his shoulder, set him on the ground, and knelt so he could be at semi-eye level with his son. Elle did the same. Blinking back tears, she brushed a bit of hair out of her boy's face.

"Noah," said Gabriel, trying to get the frightened child's attention, "Noah, buddy, listen to me," Noah sniffled, and finally actually looked at his parents, "You're gonna go with Uncle Peter for a while, alright?"

"...You're comin' too, ain't ya?" Noah asked hesitantly. He'd never been anywhere without his parents, save for the rare times when the neighbor's daughter, Anna, had been called to watch him, while they were out...

"No, baby," Elle replied, "We have to go somewhere else, but we'll come get you as soon as we can, okay?"

Noah shook his head vigorously, "Don't wanna. Wanna stay with you."

Blinking all the more rapidly, Elle suddenly pulled the boy into a tight embrace, then felt Gabriel pull _both_ of them into a hug. "Noah, you need to do this, alright, champ?" Gabriel muttered, "Besides, you'll be with Uncle Peter..."

When the little family broke apart, Noah sniffled, nodded, and muttered, "Okay."

As Peter picked the boy up, Elle added, "We love you... We'll see you soon."

Noah nodded again, and as Peter muttered a quick "I'll take care of him,", the child started to cry. Halfway out of the alley, his eyes suddenly widened, as if having realized something- or, they would think later, as if he'd caught a glimpse of things to come- and he cried back over Peter's shoulder, "Nuh-uh, not okay! Not okay!" Hearing that broke the dam on Elle's own tears, and she too began to cry. "Mama! Daddy!" Noah wailed, "Don't wanna go! Don't wanna go!"

Noah's cries for his parents faded as he and Peter disappeared around the corner of the building. Elle looked up at Gabriel, and saw that while he wasn't quite crying, his chocolate eyes were glazed over with un-shed tears. She let herself fall against his chest, burying her face in his hoodie, tears staining the fabric. Gabriel wrapped his arms around her, for a moment. A moment was all they could have, though, because it wouldn't take long for Claire to catch up, and they had to make sure they kept her chasing them instead of going after Peter.

* * *

**Peter, & Little Noah  
Parkman Residence, New York City**

It hadn't taken long to get to the teleporter, in Dallas. Thankfully, he had obliged Peter's request without a fuss, and now he was holding a still-crying Noah, and standing on Matt Parkman's doorstep, knocking hesitantly. The Parkmans were aware of who the Company was protecting, and _why_, and Peter was sure they would be willing to help him hide his nephew... But it made _him_ feel guilty for asking, because they had their own children to worry about.

After several long seconds, the door opened, and Peter found himself looking down at the now fourteen-year-old Molly. "Oh, hi Peter," she said, pulling earphones out, and switching off her mp3 player. "Dad! Daph-... Mom! It's Peter!" Molly stepped out of the way, and gestured for Peter to come in. He obliged, and tried in vain to comfort Noah, whom, already upset, was now trying to force his tiny body to become one with his uncle's.

"Molly, don't yell," said Daphne, as she made her way into the front room, while Molly swung the door shut, "Matt just got Daniella to sleep... Hey, Peter, what-" she cut herself off when she noticed little Noah, clinging to Peter for dear life. He was usually an outgoing boy... Not today.

"My nephew, Noah" Peter supplied, before Daphne could ask. He knew she'd know who Noah was, "Claire found them this morning... They asked me to hide him."

"And you want our help," Daphne guessed. Peter nodded.

"Want our help with what?" Matt entered from Daniella's room, "Oh, hi, Peter... And?"

"Noah," said Daphne, "Peter's nephew... The one Pinehearst wants. Claire nearly got him this morning."

"I need to keep him here," said Peter, "Just for a couple of days, until Gabriel and Elle can work something out with Mom... We didn't have any time for planning before Claire and her team kicked the door down."

Matt looked at his wife for a moment, then looked back at Peter. After a few more repeats of that process, he sighed, "Fine, just... There's no way Pinehearst will know he's here, will they?"

Peter shook his head, "They don't have Molly's ability yet. The only reason they found them this time was because a precog got lucky." As he spoke, he attempted to remove Noah, but found it to be a difficult task. Apparently along with being a precog, the child had the ability to permanently attach himself to someone. Finally, he successfully pried the child off, and set him on the couch. The boy stared determinedly at the floor, and didn't move a muscle.

Daphne, ever the caring mother, sat beside him, and attempted to get him to speak, though it was to no avail. "What happened?" she asked Peter.

"He's never been away from his parents," Peter replied, "When we were leaving..." he didn't want to remember that, because it had made _him_ choke up, to hear the normally happy little boy screaming like that, "He didn't want to go. And, I think he may have seen something."

"What, you mean like saw the future?" Matt sounded skeptical, "He's four..."

"Yeah. But he started showing signs last year... It's not usually anything way in advance, a few minutes, maybe an hour, at most, but the ability has already manifested."

Daphne was still trying to get Noah to open up. She almost succeeded, until he looked up at her, and Matt. He started to say something, until he got a good look at them; then his mouth snapped shut, and he went back to staring at the floor. Both Daphne and Matt looked at each other, puzzled, then turned their attention to Peter, who shrugged. He hoped, for both Noah's sake, and Gabriel and Elle's, that they figured something out soon, because he really couldn't bear seeing his nephew like this; and he knew that his brother, and sister-in-law were suffering every bit as much as their little boy.

* * *

**Gabriel & Elle  
Dallas, Texas**

The still-upset couple used the low evening light to their advantage, slipping through the shadows of the abandoned lot, trying to remain perfectly silent. Gabriel suddenly wished he'd come across someone with the ability to _become_ a shadow, during his days as Sylar. It would have made all of this so much easier. There was too much at stake to screw up now.

He and Elle were good at hiding- especially in plain sight- they'd been doing so for the last four years... But running, and avoiding being caught had always been an issue. And they had to keep from getting caught, because being caught meant being dead.... After Pinehearst had gotten the information they wanted... Likely by way of telepaths.  
Perhaps it was the knowledge of what would happen that kept them going, despite being out of breath, and exhausted. They hadn't stopped since they'd fled home that morning, except for their goodbye to little Noah. Claire- Bennet, whatever she liked to be called- was certainly persistent; which was likely why she had become Pinehearst's top agent.

And Claire- Bennet, whatever- being the best was why she- of all the agents, it was the one with the grudge against the targets- was the one sent after them. Not for _them_, since Pinehearst likely didn't give a shit about them, in particular, but Noah...

They just happened to know where Noah was...

"He'll be okay, right?" Elle asked, as they finally stopped for a moment. She had asked that same question at least a dozen times.

"He'll be fine, ba-"

Gabriel's "baby" was cut off by the echoing thunder of gunfire, and the bullet that passed directly between them, and ricocheted off a rusted trash bin.

"You can't hide from me forever!" came a shout from somewhere behind them, "Just tell me where he is, and I might let you go!"

"Bullshit," the couple muttered, together. Aside from the fact that "Bennet" would take great delight in killing them herself, Pinehearst didn't let people go. _Nathan_ didn't let people go. Ever.

Not even family.  


* * *

  
and now I've caught up with myself, as the last bit is obviously a rewrite of the flashforward, in the prologue. I wasn't entirely sure how things would go, when I wrote that, so a rewrite, to account for everything, was needed.

By the way, I think EVERY PARENT on the face of the earth has used "Don't you give me that look", and any variation of "I'll knock you into next week/month/year" at some point in their lives. It is an unspoken requirement for parents.

Anyone who can tell me the movie that inspired the little goodbye scene (mostly the "Not okay! Not okay!" bit) gets a cookie. Or Gabriel =P... Here's a hint... It's animated, and the little boy that says those lines later saves the world... or, creates a new one, rather...


	11. Chapter 9

Well, this one is shorter than I wanted, and not heavy in the way of plot... But we get a glimpse of what else Noah can do. More plot next chapter, I promise.

Lea: Wtf, superman? XD And yes, there is a Noah/Daniella bit in this chapter... You should be glad he sees the future, or you wouldn't have gotten it =P

Poetz: well, then I succeeded in what I wanted to do, with the goodbye. And your memory didn't fail you this time: the goodbye scene was indeed meant to be similar to the one between Cale and his father in Titan A.E.... I seriously LOVE that movie.

Cat: For you, I make this chapter's prize for reviews a few good swings at Claire.

since I haven't done it in awhile: Disclaimer: blahblahblahblahDon't Own Itblahblahblahblah

On to teh fic

* * *

Chapter 9

**Parkman Residence, New York City**

Noah was a bright boy. It hadn't taken many times for him to learn that the flashes he saw were things that were _going_ to happen. What he kept seeing now, scared him. He didn't want to look at Matt and Daphne, because the flashes terrified him. When Uncle Peter had taken him from his parents, he'd seen flashes of the Bad People that he'd seen before. He didn't remember what he'd seen, exactly, he'd just seen that being taken was going to make the Bad People come. The Bad People were going to come, and they were going to hurt everyone.  
So, to escape the scary visions he got whenever he was around Matt, and Daphne, and even Molly, he found refuge in Daniella's nursery. He climbed up on the rocking chair, beside her crib, and precariously balanced on the moving chair, so he could look down at the sleeping baby. He had come in here every day, for the three he had been here, and every time, he saw the same flashes when he looked at the fascinating little girl; a man who looked a lot like his daddy, just with lighter hair,laughing, and holding hands with a tall girl, with dark hair, and blue eyes. Another of the brief flashes was of the same girl, talking to herself... or rather, something that he couldn't see. Never any more than that, though.

The usual flashes done, Noah climbed back down, and sat firmly in the chair. He hadn't said a word since he'd been taken from his parents, and he saw no reason to change that now, so he was going to sit in that room, avoid the scary flashes, and wait for his mother and father.

-----

Peter watched his nephew through the partially open door, and sighed. He was worried about the poor kid; he hadn't spoken, he barely ate, and he seemed determined to avoid everyone, except the baby.

"Maybe he likes her, 'cause she's weird too," Molly said from in front of the TV.

"Molly!" Matt scolded.

"What?" Molly gave her "father" a 'you know it's true' look, "She'll look at an empty corner, and start laughing, then look at another, and cry..."

Peter had noticed that about the infant; she seemed to have violent mood swings, for no apparent reason. But he was more concerned for his nephew having apparently gone mute, than Daniella's mood issues. He wished he could contact his brother, at least get him on the phone, so Noah could hear his parents' voices, but he knew neither of them had a phone with them. They hadn't yet gotten in contact with his mother, or he'd know about it, since he _had_ managed to contact Angela. He hadn't told her where he was, or why; just because he was now in charge of Noah's care didn't mean the rules got to be broken. No one under the employ of Primatech was to know of Noah's whereabouts. The Parkmans, since they were _not_ working for Primatech, and since Gabriel had told him specifically to bring Noah here, were exempt from the list of people who couldn't know.

* * *

**Gabriel & Elle  
Colorado City, Texas**

Gabriel was sure the past three days had been the longest he'd ever been through. Somehow, all the things that had annoyed him, before, about having a hyper four-year-old in the house he now missed. Hell, he even missed the damn cat.

They only had an hour left to Odessa; but they weren't continuing on until morning. They _should_ have made it to Odessa the very day they left Dallas- it was only a five hour trip- but they had wanted to avoid stealing a car for as long as possible, so much of their time had been spent walking. They'd stolen one truck, but they'd left it that morning, and had walked to Colorado City. It was late now, so they'd broken into a hotel room, and would steal a car from the lot in the morning, and hopefully be to Odessa before anyone noticed it was missing. They weren't sure if Claire was still following them or not, but if she was, news of stolen vehicles would lead her to them, if she didn't already know where they were headed.

Regardless, Gabriel wanted to get to the main Primatech office, figure something out with his mother, and then get his son back, all as quickly as possible. For one, he missed his little boy, for another, he wouldn't feel completely at ease until he had Noah back with him, and Elle.

Though, the last three days had really given him some time to think about things that had never really entered his mind, while he was busy with work, and family. Mostly the fact that he couldn't die. Of course, that was always something that was apparent; and something always on his mind when danger presented its self: he couldn't die, but Elle and Noah could. It was more than the fact that he couldn't be killed that weighed on his mind now; it was the fact that he would _never_ die, _couldn't_ die. If his understanding of Claire's ability- and what Peter had told him of Adam Monroe- anyone with the regenerative ability was immortal.

It wasn't really apparent yet, that he wasn't aging, but it would become so eventually. Eventually, it would become obvious that in appearance, he never aged past the twenty-seven he'd been when he'd acquired the ability... And all the while, Elle was going to continue as normal. Eventually, Gabriel finally realized, he was going to have to watch his wife wither, and die, while he continued on... likely forever... Or until there finally came a future that couldn't be stopped, and the world was destroyed. Or would he manage to survive _that_ too? Gabriel suddenly found himself wishing he knew how to switch abilities _off_, as well as on. Or, that he could "switch" abilities on, in other people...

As he thought all this, his eyes traveled to Elle- curled up, asleep, occasionally muttering something- then to the scars on either side of her forehead. The scars he'd put there. Claire's blood hadn't been given in time to heal the second cut entirely, and as such she had matching silvery scars over each eye. Noah had once asked how she'd gotten them, and Elle had replied that a monster had tried to kill her... Gabriel had grimaced as she'd spoken, but had continued to listen as Elle explained that she had saved herself the first time. Of course, Noah had wanted to know about the second time, too. Gazing at her husband, with a small smile, Elle had replied, "Your daddy. He saved me, that time."  
As Noah had run off to play, she had added, to Gabriel, "You've always saved me."

_And I always will_, Gabriel thought, tossing and turning the beginnings of an idea about in his mind. It could, in theory, work. Not for Noah... Not yet, anyway, it would be for him to decide. But Elle... Peter would disapprove, say that it was the very thing they were fighting against, but Gabriel wasn't the knight-in-shining-armor that his brother was. He was the knight in bloody, tarnished armor, that wasn't above using the enemy's tactics to get what he wanted. Peter was the white knight, and Gabriel the black night; it had always been so.

But first, they had to get to Primatech, and get Noah back. _Then_ he could start worrying about his idea, and whether or not Elle would even agree.

Moving from the chair he was in, Gabriel sat on the bed, next to the sleeping- and muttering- woman. He ran his hand through her still-damp hair, curling the ends around his fingers. He hadn't intended for it to do so, but his actions roused her from her clearly troubled sleep.

"Nightmare?" he asked her, keeping his voice low.

Elle stared up at him for a moment, then nodded. She sat up, straightening her- _his_ rather- shirt, and sighed. "We can't just go to Primatech, find somewhere else to go, and take Noah back," she said, suddenly. Before Gabriel could ask what she meant, she continued, "As long as the Petrelli bitch, and therefore Nathan, is in control of Pinehearst, they're just going to keep coming after us... "

Gabriel thought he knew where this was going, but he asked, "What exactly are we supposed to do about that?" anyway.

"We get rid of anyone in Pinehearst who knows about Noah... Nathan, Tracy, Claire, maybe Mohinder..."

"Jesus, Elle... Claire and Mohinder are one thing, but Nathan is the damn President, and Tracy's his wife..." Yeah, he'd known that was coming. Didn't make it any less of a stupid- yet smart- idea.

"I know that," Elle snapped. She took a deep breath, to calm herself, and when she continued, her voice was thick, as if she were holding back tears, "But, I can't do this again, Gabriel... I can't. And we can't survive always looking over our shoulders, wondering if they've found us again... " she didn't resist when Gabriel pulled her to his chest. She continued speaking, voice slightly muffled, now, "I don't care if I have to kill all of them, then blow up every fucking Pinehearst branch myself, I'm making sure there's no one left to come after our baby, because I _can not_ do this again..."

He was right there with her. As much as he wanted his son back, as soon as possible, he knew Elle was right: eventually, this would happen again, and they would be apart, again... And Gabriel wasn't any more capable of handling it than Elle was. Sure, he and Elle had somewhat fixed each other, but their true anchor to sanity, to normalcy was Noah.

"So we start a crusade against the President," Gabriel sighed, "Always wanted to spend eternity in a federal prison..."

Elle actually laughed at that, "The idea would be to not get caught," she said, as she pulled out of his embrace, and crystal blue eyes found chocolate brown, "But I suppose the planning can wait till morning."

She really shouldn't have been looking at him like that. They had to remain alert in case Claire came knocking... Had to, otherwise they'd be caught with their trousers down. The last few words of that being exactly what Elle's look was suggesting.

She kissed the corner of his mouth ever so softly. Dammit, this wasn't the time for distractions... She slept, he kept watch, that was what they'd planned...  
When her hands found his belt buckle, what little resolve he had began to crumble... Well, things _never_ went according to plan, anyway...

With the buckle out of the way, the small blond's fingers went for the button of his jeans, and her lips found his. Okay, no resolve left.

They both needed to distract themselves from everything, both needed a "last night" together, before they went on to Primatech, and figured out how to hit Pinehearst with everything thing they had... And if Claire decided to interrupt, well, Gabriel would have all the more reason to kill her. His son was a walking interruption on his own... He didn't need his niece joining in.

But, no time to think about how to remove any distractions/interruptions; the buttons on Elle's- his- shirt were proving to be pesky things. Smirking, even as he kissed her, he had them all undone with a simple flick of his finger- he loved having telekinesis- and discovered that she hadn't bothered to put anything on under her- his- shirt...

* * *

**Nathan, Tracy, Angela & Claire  
New York City**

Angela hated this. She was a good liar, a good actress, but she hated doing _this_. While she and Nathan may have been on opposite sides of a war in private, in the eyes of the public, she was an encouraging mother, proud of her son, and daughter-in-law, for all that they had accomplished, and as such, she was stuck having dinner with them, and Claire. She had to do this periodically, mostly because she was afraid if she didn't, Nathan might actually decide to do something about Primatech, instead of leaving them in relative peace.

As per usual, halfway through dinner, Nathan asked, "So where's my nephew, Ma?"

Angela gave him a very polite, and very fake smile, "What, your best couldn't catch him?" she turned the smile towards Claire, "Speaking of which, why are you here, dear? Shouldn't you be off hunting your own kind?"

Claire bristled at that, "I'm only here because I was called back for _this_."

"Claire will be back to work by morning," Tracy said, "As will we all." In other words, they would all be back to wanting each other dead.

Nathan, never one to be distracted from a topic for long, asked again, "Where is he, Ma?"

"I don't know, Nathan," it was the same answer she always gave, and most of the time it was true. But this time she did know; a technopath under her employ had told her where Peter's calls were coming from. "I do wonder why you think I'd tell you, even if I did."

"Because eventually you're going to see that I'm right... I need that ability, Ma... To save the world. Isn't that what you want to do?"

"Oh, I'm sure you would stop a few futures, Nathan," Angela replied, smoothing her napkin over her lap, "But eventually, the power would go to your head."

"And you think the brat will be any different?" Claire muttered under her breath.

"There is no telling, Claire," was the matter-of-fact answer, "He could be as bad as your father, or become worse than his own was, once... There really is no telling. But Noah has yet to show that he, like Nathan, will seek to control everything."

Angela had thought of the very thing Claire mentioned; the possibility of little Noah being as bad, or worse than Nathan. Something- perhaps the hazy distant-future dreams she couldn't quite remember- told her that her grandson, if he was to be like any of his family, he would be more like his father, or Peter, perhaps with a bit of his mother's attitude thrown in.

The gritty sound of what could only have been a custom cell ringtone- _One, two, Freddie's comin' for you, three, four, better lock your door-_ interrupted Angela's thoughts.

"Claire, phone _off_ during dinner," Tracy scolded quietly.

Claire threw a glare at her stepmother, and answered her phone, cutting off the ringtone at "better stay up late", "Fred, when the hell did you change the tone I had for you?.... No, it doesn't fit at a-... You're sure? You're _absolutely _positive?.... Alright.... You better be right about this, Fred. Bye." Claire flipped the phone shut, and shoved away from the table. At Tracy and Nathan's quizzical looks, she said, "Sorry, something _really_ important," she didn't sound sorry; she sounded glad to get away, "Needs to be taken care of ASAP."

With that, she strode away, without a second glance back. Angela gave both Nathan and Tracy another of her fake smiles, "I should be going to. I need to get back to work."

And so she did. She needed to find out what her granddaughter was up to.

* * *

**Parkman Residence, New York City**

Noah watched intently as Molly took care of her sister, despite Molly having told him several times to stop staring, because it freaked her out. Noah couldn't help it if he found watching the sisters more comforting than their parents. Something bad was coming, and soon, but he couldn't explain to Uncle Peter beyond "lots of blood", because really, that was the only thing he could make out. Peter had simply assured him that he was safe, and had gone about his business.

So, there Noah sat, in the kitchen, watching the only two people who didn't give him the scary flashes. Molly was cursing fluently under her breath- most were words Noah wasn't supposed to know, but had learned from his parents anyway- because she had managed to spill something all over the floor. Noah saw her start to tip backwards, as she reached for a towel- she was too small, really to be carrying her sister- and immediately sought to warn her.

"You're gonna fall!" he called to her. Though, as he spoke, he got a funny Pop Rocks feeling on his tongue. He'd gotten that before. He'd been told to tell his mother that if she wasn't careful, she'd cut herself. Though the words that he managed to relay had been "Daddy said you'll cut yourself."... That too had given him the Pop Rocks feeling, and moments later, his mother had been swearing up a storm, holding a bloody finger under the faucet of the kitchen sink.

Where as before Noah spoke, Molly would have righted herself, gone to the living room, and handed Daniella to someone else, before cleaning things up, now she continued to tip backwards, and in trying to right herself, her foot found the mess on the floor. As she fell backwards, her hand shot towards the counter to try and grab the edge, to save herself from the fall. Instead, her hands found several glasses that weren't next to the sink, where they belonged, and she took them down with her. The skinny teenager landed with a loud bang, followed by the sound of shattering glass, that was drowned out by Daniella's wails. The adults were in the room in a split second, to see what was going on.

While Daphne took the baby- who luckily wasn't harmed- Matt helped Molly to her feet. The girl had several cuts on her, from the broken glass, and there was blood trickling down the back of her head, from where it had slammed into the tile floor.

Noah watched, wide-eyed, as his uncle poked and prodded at the back of the whimpering girl's head, "That's going to need stitches," said Peter, with a sigh. To Molly he said, "And after a hit that hard, you prob'ly have a concussion." Molly didn't answer. She looked like she couldn't quite focus on anything.

"I'll take her to the hospital," said Daphne, handing Daniella to Matt, "Back in a flash."

Pulling Molly close to her, Daphne was off in a blur of colors.

"Hey, kiddo," Peter spoke to Noah, "What happened?"

Noah thought for a moment, then replied, "She fell.'

Peter sighed, "I know that. How?"

"I d'nno."

Peter shook his head, then ruffled his nephew's hair, "No help at all," he muttered.

As Uncle Peter walked away, Noah saw several more brief flashes. It came and went so quickly he couldn't make out all of it; nothing beyond the knock at the door, and a woman saying hello to Peter. But it didn't sound like a friendly hello...

Almost as soon as the flashes stopped, there came three sharp knocks on the door.

* * *

**Gabriel, Elle, & Angela  
Primatech**

Angela had clearly been expecting their visit, Elle knew, because she hadn't seemed at all surprised when she'd entered her office to find them waiting for her. She also knew what they wanted to do, which was actually a good thing, since Elle didn't really feel like talking.

Of course, then Angela had to ruin the plan of staying silent, "And how exactly do you plan on making all of that happen?"

Truth be told, neither Elle nor Gabriel really knew. All they knew was that anyone who knew about Noah had to go; and hopefully Pinehearst would go with them. Currently the list was at Nathan, Tracy, and Claire. Nathan and Tracy because they actually wanted to used Noah for his ability; Claire because she likely wouldn't stop until either Gabriel or Elle, or their son was dead. It didn't take Angela's confirmation that Claire was still determined to get "revenge" for them to see that their niece was still sore about the events five years ago. Also, according to Angela, she was out to get Bennet, too for having killed her. Claire held a grudge like no one else.

When neither Gabriel nor Elle answered her question, Angela smiled, "It will be simpler than you think, actually. We just haven't already tried it, because until now, we didn't have a way to make sure we weren't caught."

"And you do now?" Gabriel asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes. The technopath who works for me has developed his ability well enough to ensure nothing could be traced back to anyone involved. He will also be able to make sure that no one suspects anything until it's done."

"How could a technopath help with that?" Elle wanted to know.

"Well, the only time Nathan is anywhere without his body guards is when he visits the main Pinehearst office, in New York. If you want to get in undetected, you need all the doors opened for you, security cameras put out of commission," as she spoke, Angela was dialing a number on the office phone. "Hello?" she spoke into the receiver, "Yes, it is... Oh you are? I was going to ask you to come right away, anyway." Without a goodbye, she hung up the phone, and then stared expectantly at the door.

Wonder who- or what- she was expecting, Elle and Gabriel turned to watch the door as well. For several seconds, there was nothing, then there was a light knock, and the door swung inward. Standing in the open doorway was a tall, lanky boy of no more than fifteen, or sixteen, with short curly hair, and dark skin- clearly of african-american descent.

"What'd you need, Mrs. Petrelli?" the boy asked, barely giving Gabriel and Elle a second glance. Though the barely-glance was enough, obviously, for he did a double take, then stared at Gabriel, as if he knew him.

Gabriel looked as though he found the kid slightly familiar, as well. Elle vaguely recognized him- likely from a company file somewhere- but not enough to actually come up with a name.

The kid started to talk again, and from his expression, he didn't have anything polite to say, but Angela cut in, "Mr. Sanders, this is my son, Gabriel, and his wife, Elle,"

"I know who _he_ is," the kid added in, quickly, before Angela continued.

"Gabriel, Elle, this is my technopath, Micah Sanders."

* * *

I had to incorporate Micah in somewhere.

You can all thank my beta-reader/RP Partner (he's Gabriel, I'm Elle) for the TK removal of buttons. Actually... now that I look back on the section of the RP where the subject came up... it was my fault.... But if he hadn't given in to Elle's advances, it wouldn't have been brought up... so, still thank him =P

As I said before: prize for reviewing this chapter is getting to knock the shit out of Claire.

Oh, and you get cookies, if you can even BEGIN to guess what Daniella's ability is (yes, Molly's remarks about laughing, and crying at nothing, as well as Noah's little visions are things caused by her ability). It won't really be important for this one, but if things go well, it will be important in the next story... IF I write a next one... (Yes, Lea, it would likely be Noah/Daniella ;). )

Also, more cookies, if you know what Gabriel is planning, for Elle...


	12. Chapter 10

Okay, if you don't all utterly despise Claire by the end of this chapter- though most of you do already- there is something wrong with you =P

You'll probably despise ME for this chapter, too.

To those of you who said Daniella got the "Sixth Sense" basically, yes, she did... It may or may not become relevant (not in this one, but later)

Irene:... Twilight?....Where? -scans fic-.... I haven't, nor am I likely to, read the Twilight series... Hell, I haven't even seen the movie. All I know is that it's a typical vampire romance... only the vamps are cuddly, fangless, and they fricking GLITTER... what the hell?... So... where's Twilight? Glad you like it for the most part, though.

Poetz: Actually, the scene with Molly was something other than being able to control the future... He still can't fully do that, nor will he learn it for a long while to come.... What he did to Molly won't be something he does often, nor does he have control of it when it happens. You win the gold medal on guessing Gabriel's idea, by the way.

Ballet: Oh don't worry, Claire will get hers, in due time. As for the fight: well, I've got something planned, trust me.

Blooming: Glad you liked Claire's ringtone.... And you know, I never have seen those movies XD I just know the song. I sing it to scare little cousins =P

to clarify something, before we begin: Molly does not know who Noah's parents are. All she knows is that he is the weird little boy that Pinehearst wants, for some reason

And now, on to the story... please don't kill me, once you've finished it...

* * *

_Close your heavy eyes, my darling one. Close them oh so tight, my precious one  
the demons on the wall dance for you now, their fingers stretch and claw to reach you_

_run from demons, nightmare creatures, laughing men of longest limb. Hide your feelings  
ask forgiveness, pray that they won't take you in.  
-_Struwwelpeter

_Brightest of souls, shining through, dearest of boys, I love you  
wrapped in my arms, I would stay here with you  
You are my lifeline, you make the stars shine, all of my life I have waited for you  
You are the brightest star, I love all that you are  
You are the brightest star, my beautiful child  
-_Bright Star

Chapter 10

**Primatech**

"So, how do we deal with Claire?" Elle interrupted the plotting- they had covered up to the point where they, and Noah Bennet would be dispatching Nathan, and Tracy- with the question that really needed answering, "And how do we make sure they don't just use some synthetic regen to bring them back, if we get rid of Pom-Pom?"

"Lodge something in her brain," Angela began.

"Yeah, we know that... She can also bounce back from that," Elle interrupted again.

Angela gave her a slight glare, before continuing, "And remove her head... There is no 'bouncing back' from that. As for stopping any other regenerators from bringing back Nathan and Tracy; destroy the bodies."

If Elle hadn't already had many past experiences with Angela, she might have wondered how the woman could speak so casually about- and help plan- the murder of several members of her family. It didn't matter to Elle; she hadn't been kidding when she'd said she'd kill them all, and destroy every Pinehearst branch on her own, if she had to. The targets were just that; targets. They weren't to be considered family- then again, she didn't like to consider Angela family either- nor were they to be shown any mercy. Mercy wasn't something Elle had on her best of days, and the last few were definitely not some of her best.

"May I continue?" Angela pretended to politely request. Without waiting for an answer, she continued anyway. They were to meet with Noah Bennet in New York- at the Parkmans, because Gabriel and Elle wanted to see little Noah, before their march into battle began (though Angela didn't know that)-, working from a computer in Primatech, Micah would make sure that they were able to have access to all levels of the main Pinehearst office, as well as make sure they weren't spotted on any security cameras. From there, all they had to do was get to the office both Nathan and Tracy used, kill them in whatever way they saw fit, same with Claire, and then they were to leave, as quickly as they had come, as Angela had other plans for destroying the building- and therefore a good percentage of the formula, as well as any information on the Greys- but she refused to share it with them.

Of course, if the plan was to succeed, all participants had to be willing to work together, and Micah didn't seem too thrilled about helping Gabriel, though so far he hadn't said he _wouldn't_ help. Elle wished she could be annoyed with all the distrust, but as she had nearly been one of Sylar's victims, twice, she could understand why so many were reluctant to believe that Gabriel was different from the monster. She had first hand experience, and even _she_ had been reluctant to believe it at first.

"How are we getting to New York?" Gabriel's voice cut into Elle's thoughts, "And when?"

"As soon as Mr. Jensen arrives," Angela replied, "He's the teleporter who took Peter to New York," at both Gabriel and Elle's shocked looks, she smiled, "What? You think I didn't know? I can see the future... I knew where you would send Noah. I've already arranged for Bennet to meet you outside the Parkman house, so you don't have to call him yourself when you arrive. Now," she turned to Micah, "Micah, would you please do one more practice run on the computers here? I want to be sure you can do this."

Micah gave the Petrelli matriarch a "pfft, please" look, but got up from his seat, apparently going to do as he was asked.

As Micah left, Angela returned her attention to Elle and Gabriel, "I assume once this is all over that you will no longer feel the need to hide, and that I will be permitted to see my grandson?"

Elle immediately thought of her own childhood history with the Company; she'd die before she let that happen to her son. So, she was inclined to say no, but she remained quiet when Gabriel muttered an almost inaudible "We'll see."

* * *

**Outside the Parkman House, New York City**

Despite the fact that soon, he was going to be committing several murders, Gabriel couldn't help but feel almost giddy. Soon, it would be over, and done with. Provided Micah did his job, no one would know who had killed Nathan, and destroyed the main Pinehearst office, and they would therefore be free to go about their lives, without fear of being discovered. And, in few moments, he'd have his son in his arms, after more than four days away from his partner in crime.

He should have known things wouldn't go the way he'd hoped.

The first twinges of panic started when he saw the the front door of Matt's home was hanging open. For some reason, it didn't seem as though it was a simple case of someone having forgotten to shut it... It seemed more as if someone uninvited had come, and gone, without caring about the door- though Gabriel was unaware as to how he was able to make the distinction. Perhaps it was how one knew someone was sneaking, when a floorboard creaked, instead of thinking it was simply the regular creaks and groans any house made. Still, he forced himself to remain calm as he and Elle made their way up the sidewalk. As Elle was pressed close to him, he could feel her tense up as she too noticed the somehow-ominous open door. _One of the kids left it open, one of the kids left it open_, Gabriel chanted in his head. For some reason, their footsteps on the wooden porch seemed to echo.

Gabriel reached out to push the door the rest of the way open, but froze when he noticed the bloody handprint on it. _Shit... Oh shit... _Before panic could fully grip him, _the_ sound came from inside the house. He wasn't sure exactly what it was; it sounded like a combination of sobbing, screaming, and a moaned "no". The best way to describe it might have been- to use the movie phrase- "the sound of ultimate suffering". Either way, while not particularly loud, it chilled Gabriel to the bone. It also woke him from the trance that seeing the blood had put him into. Wasting not another second, Gabriel shoved the offending door out of the way, and ran into the house, with Elle at his side (and crackling with electricity). The front room was a mess: tables knocked over- or broken, in the case of the glass one- chairs askew.

"Daphne!" the voice made both Elle and Gabriel jump. A small, stick-thin girl came from a doorway to the left, holding a squalling infant. Her eyes were wide, panicked, as she searched for the woman she'd called. Instead, she found the visitors. Clearly she recognized Gabriel- her own personal boogey-man- for she froze like a deer caught in the headlights, and hugged the baby closer to her. Gabriel knew she was thinking that he had done this. "Mom!?" she called, not taking her eyes from the pair, "Dad!?"

The wail that had so chilled Gabriel came again, from the kitchen. Molly- Gabriel remembered her name now- forgot about the intruders, and dashed for the kitchen, her sister still clutched to her chest. Gabriel and Elle followed, afraid of what they were going to find.

And they were right to be. In the kitchen, Daphne was on her knees, bent over a limp body, her entire tiny frame shaking with sobs, as she muttered to herself. Gabriel could only make out a few words; "Matt", and "No".

Moving closer he saw that it was indeed Matt that lie there, a hole punched clean through his chest, a lake of blood around him, soaking into Daphne's jeans. Molly screamed at the sight, and within moments was knelt next to her mother, reaching out with one hand in a vain attempt to shake the dead cop back to life, "Matt... Dad..." tears overflowed in her eyes, as her voice cracked, "_Daddy._"

Daddy... Daddy... The word flipped a switch in Gabriel's brain. "Noah!" he turned from the kitchen, and ran back to the living room, calling for his son, "_Noah_!"

Elle remained frozen in place, staring at the Parkman family. If he'd still had his super-hearing, Gabriel might have heard her near-inaudible chant, "Not Noah... Please, not my baby..."

Gabriel went from room to room, ending in the office, all the while shouting for his son. No answer came. Running nervous hands through his hair, he turned a full circle in the office, as if hoping that by doing so he would make Noah appear. Nothing. "_**FUCK!**__" _to accompany the shout, he slammed his fists into the poor blameless desk that sat in the center of the room. The force he used was enough to dislocate several fingers, and to fracture several bones in his hands. He barely noticed the pain, barely noticed to discomfort that came from bone knitting its self back together, fingers moving back to where they belonged... None of that even came close to comparing to the loss of Noah. "_Fuck._"

A groan brought his attention to an overturned chair that had a pair of legs sticking out from under it. He telekinetically moved the object, only to discover that it was Peter underneath it. There was blood running from the corner of his mouth, and a gash on his forehead, but he was alive. With the chair gone, Peter sat up, rubbing his head. Before Gabriel could ask what happened, Elle appeared in the doorway.

"They took him, didn't they?" her voice was thick, her blue eyes brimming with tears.

It was Peter that replied, "Claire, and her team... Daphne wasn't here to get Noah out..."

Elle's gaze turned cold, and electricity started to crackle all over her body. Without a word, she turned sharply and strode determinedly for the front door. Gabriel followed- he knew what she was going to do- but didn't quite have the will to stop her. _He_ wanted to follow along with her current course of action: go to Pinehearst, and completely obliterate it. To hell with Angela's plan; they needed to get their son back _right now_.

Peter apparently had different ideas, for he lurched to his feet, and, after a moment of swaying, caught up to Elle, "Elle, Gabriel, wait! You can't just go in guns blazing!" He reached out to grab Elle's shoulder, only to be knocked back by a bolt of electricity.

Elle spun to face the stunned man, "Don't tell me what I can't do, Peter!" she hissed, "They took my baby... And I _am_ going to get him back. With or without anyone's help."

The part of Gabriel's brain that still operated on pure logic told him that Peter was right; they needed to wait... Needed to stick with the plan, or they could end up getting themselves, and Noah killed. Better to wait, and have a sound plan of action than to go in unprepared, and end up dead. Even as he moved to try and convince Elle that Peter was right, the emotional side of his brain was still raging right along with his wife, thirsty for a little blood after what had happened. Still, he placed a gentle hand on Elle's shoulder, absorbing the electricity without flinching. Elle turned those big doe-like eyes towards him, as if pleading with him to agree with her, to help her get their boy back.

"Elle," he said softly, words barely audible over the electrical hum that filled the room, "We'll get him back, baby, I promise. But Peter's right, we need to have a plan first."

Slowly- very slowly- Elle calmed herself, and the sparks died out. Though, no sooner had she stopped, then an angry voice came from the kitchen doorway.

"You did this didn't you?" all heads turned; there stood Molly, still holding her little sister, cheeks stained with tears, glaring daggers at Gabriel. Peter had said Daphne hadn't been there when Claire had come... Molly must have been with her. And now the girl thought that Sylar had taken another parent from her.

Peter moved to calm the girl, and explain matters to her; at least this time he wouldn't get knocked off his feet...

----

By the time they had managed to make Molly understand the situation, a glassy-eyed Daphne had wandered into the living room, and was now sitting in a righted chair, staring into space. She was in shock, according to Peter, and it would likely take a while for her to snap out of it. In the mean-time, Elle and Gabriel had told Peter Angela's plan. Peter suggested they stick with it, and wait for Bennet to arrive before they kicked down Pinehearst's doors.

"What happened?" Molly spoke for the first time since she had stopped threatening Gabriel. The question was directed at Peter. Both Gabriel and Elle were also interested in what had happened.

Peter looked between all of his companions for a moment, before starting, "After Daphne took you to the hospital, Claire, and her team arrived. There wasn't enough time to get out the back... Matt tried to stop them, but the one with super-strength got him... They trapped me and Noah in the office... Claire hit me with the chair, then she grabbed Noah, and they left."

* * *

**Little Noah, Claire, Jessica, & Cody  
New York City**

Noah curled into as tight a ball as he could in the seat he'd been placed it. He was stuck in between the tall man with blood on his hands, and the short woman with the brown hair. The lady who sounded like she came from where he lived was driving. The woman with the brown hair kept looking at him as though she was angry with him. Why? What had he done to her?

"Missing your mommy?" the driver taunted, watching him in the rear-view mirror.

Noah didn't answer. He only stared determinedly at his hands. Truthfully, he _was_. Not that the Bad People cared.

"Shut up," the tall man snapped at the driver, "You'll make him start crying again." Apparently the tall man couldn't stand the noise.

But, Noah wasn't going to start crying. He was going to hold it all in; be strong, like his parents were. Which might have been easier, were it not for the dark-haired woman. She was watching him again, with that hateful glare. He turned his head and stared right back, trying to understand _why_ she seemed so angry with him.

----

Claire wanted to reach out and strangle the child that sat next to her. It was her father that had use for him. To her, he was nothing more than a tool to be used to hurt Sylar. She ignored the part of her mind that told her if she was going to see that hurting the boy meant hurting Sylar, then she had to see that meant he wasn't the monster she thought him to be. The same went for Elle. Logically, the monsters she accused them of being would have cared nothing for the boy, and therefore her plan to make them suffer would have been pointless. The only reason it would work was because they actually loved the child, which negated the idea that they were soulless murderers, incapable of caring for anything or anyone but themselves. She hated it, but she wasn't going to let it stop her. When they came for the boy, and she knew they would, regardless of whether Nathan was done with his experiments or not, the boy was going to die.

_He's just a child_, said the "old Claire" part of her mind, _innocent, like I was..._ Then the boy turned his head and met her gaze with his. The brown eyes that stared at her were far too much like Sylar's. Memories of watching Jackie die, of being held up against a wall while her skull was sliced apart, of lying on the coffee table while the monster poked at her brain all came at her like a ton of bricks, and Claire was forced to lose the staring contest. _No_, she thought,_ Not innocent. Not for long anyway... How long until he becomes like his parents? Or worse?... I'll be doing the world a favor._

----

Noah kept staring at the woman for a few moments after she looked away, then went back to watching his hands, humming a tune to himself as he did so. His mother didn't sing to him often, but when she did, it was always the same song. As he hummed, he imagined he was back at home, sitting in bed while his mother rolled her eyes at the mess in his room... When the room got too messy, she would clean it up, and sing as she did so, and he would usually fall asleep before she was done. _You are the brightest star, I love all that you are, you are the brightest star, my beautiful child._ Of course, that memory led to the one instance when he'd ever heard his father sing; Halloween; and it had been done to scare him... His mother hadn't been happy about that, but Noah had remembered some of the words all the same. _Run from demons, nightmare creatures, laughing men of longest limb, hide your feelings, ask forgiveness, pray that they won't take you in._ But for now, he preferred to keep his mind on his mother's song; it was the more comforting of the two.

----

Claire tried to ignore the humming, and was thankful when Jessica brought the car to a stop. She grabbed the kid roughly by the arm, opened the door, and dragged him out. The boy didn't let out a single sound of protest, though as she pulled him towards the door- a back entrance into the building- he dragged his feet as much as possible. It only made Claire pick up the pace, and thus drag him with more force.

Just before they reached the door, the boy stopped moving altogether. Claire turned to glare at him, and was met with as icy a gaze as any adult could have mustered... That combined with the eyes that were so like his father's, it almost made Claire nervous. Shaking off the feeling, Claire tugged him sharply, making him stumble forward a bit. When he regained his balance, the glare resumed.

"You're gonna die," the boy stated calmly.

"Not before you," Claire replied, pulling him along, again. Though his words lingered in her mind. Had the kid seen something, or was he messing with her?... Was a four-year-old capable of playing mind-games?

She supposed it didn't really matter; dying was no big deal, she'd done it before.... Would probably do so again. And not many people knew how to make it permanent.

* * *

**Noah Bennet  
Outside the Parkman home, New York City**

Noah felt he had waited long enough. Already he had been sitting there for a good fifteen minutes, waiting for his supposed partners to join him, so they could get this over with; and still no one had come from the house across the street. With a frustrated sigh, Noah climbed out of the car, and slammed the door once he was out. Crossing the street quickly, he made his way towards the front door of the house. He paused a moment when he saw the bloody handprint. He drew his gun, and cautiously reached for the doorknob, and opened the door. It swung inward to reveal the trashed living room... As well as Gabriel, Elle, Peter, Molly, and Daphne all sitting in silence, looking as though they had just attended a funeral. There was blood on Daphne's jeans, cuts on Peter's face, tears on Elle, Daphne, and Molly's cheeks, and a strangely detached look about Gabriel. _Shit_. All of that could only have meant one thing: Pinehearst had finally gotten what they wanted.

Noah stepped further into the house, and they finally took notice of his presence. Holstering his weapon, he sighed, "What happened?"

They explained recent events to him in a few short sentences. Noah saw no reason why the original plan couldn't still work, with the added task of getting the kid back; he said as much. Though he had one request that differed from Angela's plan.

"When we get there... Let _me_ deal with Claire," some small part of him hoped that he might be able to get his daughter to see reason once again. Another part said he was going to have to do exactly what the plan called for; kill her. Sandra would hate him; he would hate himself... But this couldn't continue. his daughter had become so absorbed in her own suffering- or lack thereof- that she didn't care who got hurt in the process of getting her revenge. That had been clear the night little Noah was born, but Noah had held out hope all this time, as much as Sandra had... But clearly the years hadn't done anything to change Claire's mind.

Gabriel stood, and nodded at Noah, "But if you can't do it... Can't put a bullet in her, Noah, _I_ will."

Interesting. There had once been a time when Gabriel might have avoided making any threat to Claire, for fear of being shot. Not anymore apparently; not with his son in danger. Noah could sympathize with him; not so long ago, nothing had frightened him when Claire was in danger. Now Claire _was_ the danger, or at least part of it. Regardless, Noah nodded. Hopefully it wouldn't come to a bullet, but in all likelihood, it _would_.

"I'll call Angela, tell her what's happened," said Noah. He glanced at Peter, "are you coming with us?" Peter nodded, "Then I'll tell her we have an extra hand, too."

* * *

**Outside Main Pinehearst Office**

The group sat in the car across the street from the Pinehearst building. Daphne and Molly had remained at home; Elle wasn't sure Daphne had even noticed that they had left. In a few minutes, as soon as Micah gave them the all-clear, they would be walking right through the front doors of the "enemy stronghold" to get rid of said enemy. Elle, though, was getting impatient, and that few minutes suddenly seemed like an eternity. Like Gabriel, she was eager for a little blood; but most of all, she was eager to get her son back.

She had apologized to Peter, for shocking him- he had a burn on his palm- but maintained that he shouldn't have tried to stop her. With as much power as she'd been generating, she probably could have caused a city-wide blackout, before proceeding to reduce everyone in the Pinehearst building to nothing more than a pile of ash.... She likely would have collapsed afterward, and it would have hurt like hell in the morning, but she could have done it.

Unfortunately, her husband'd had to start talking sense. She couldn't generate that much power when she was logical, and rational... The more emotional she got, the more powerful she became. Which sucked, because usually once she reached that point, she wasn't able to control the power, and she was as likely to kill those she wanted to protect as those she she wanted to cook.

Noah's cellphone rang. He set it to speaker, then accepted the call. "You're good to go,_"_ Micah's voice came through, slightly scratchy, due to the poor speaker on the phone, "You better hurry though... There's other technopaths in there, and it won't take long for them to notice something's not right."

"Alright," Noah flipped the phone shut, "Shall we?"

Everyone nodded, and said at the same time, as they reached for door handles, "We shall."

As they stepped out of the car, and strode across the street, Elle looked up at the massive building they were heading for, with its mirrored windows, and fancy little gardens out front...

_We're coming, baby_, she thought, knowing that her son was in there somewhere, _Me and daddy are coming_.

* * *

Now... Why the songs? Because I LOVE Bright Star (you should all look it up, and listen to it... It's a beautiful song), and Struwwelpeter because Gabriel seems the type of dad that would get a kick out of scaring his kids, while his wife scolds him for it. Not to mention, it kinda fits poor little Noah's situation =P

Now, my sister BEGGED me not to kill Matt... but SOMEONE had to die. Originally I was going to kill Noah (Bennet) back in... Oh hell... What chapter was little Noah born in?... Anyway, Noah was gonna die in that chapter, but I was threatened with having all my files deleted if I did that...

...Matt has been on the chopping block since I started this....And he's staying dead... So sorry.... Now hit the review button, and tell me how evil I am...


	13. Chapter 11

Boy did I have FUN writing this chapter... And for that, I am a cruel, and sadistic person, who should be shot... But it was still fun. Hence why I got it done so fast.... That, and it's shorter than I would have liked, but, I never did do well with making fights all that long.

Finally see Mohinder- briefly- in this chapter. Also, some of Elle's lines- edited to fit the situation- from season 2... and 1 from season 3.

I used this chapter as a way to show that despite the fact that they CAN live a normal life with their boy, Elle and Gabriel haven't gone _completely_ cuddly, and do still have their sadistic killer sides...

For the record, after this chapter, I don't think I'll be able to stand writing Claire... or letting her live... but it's a necessary evil for the time being... but I am trying to think of slow torturous deaths that I could put her through, because even though I wrote her actions for this, even _I'm_ disgusted with her.... Not that I wasn't before.

Ballet: Well... PART of your wish is granted

Blooming: You WILL hate me after this one, I'm sure =P

Lea: I'm not gonna hit you XD... Titan A.E. is a kickass animated sci-fi movie. You should find it and watch it. Noaella XD. Gabe and Elle are already married. Sorta. No, Micah continued to live with his cousins. Angela recruited him several years after his mother died. And yes, I AM evil...

continuing on with author's stuff: if I were to have song lyrics before every chapter, this one's would be: _My insides all turn to ash, so slow, and blew away as I collapsed, so cold. _and: _and the ground below grew colder, as they put you down inside, and the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing.._

...Yeah, I had Linkin Park's _Valentine's Day_ on repeat while writing this (with some Breakdown (daughtry) and Crushcrushcrush (Paramore) thrown in to keep me from getting frigging depressed XD)

Now... when you're done... please don't hurt me...

* * *

Chapter 11

**Pinehearst**

As the group shoved the front doors open, several guards tried to tell them to wait; Elle wasted no time in frying them all, leaving them all dead in their tracks. She could have just stunned them- even if they woke up and triggered an alarm, thanks to Micah, no one would hear it- but she had never been prone to letting people off easy. She sure as hell wasn't going to go easy on _anyone_ who worked for Pinehearst. The next set of guards found their heads having rather intimate- and deadly- meetings with the wall, via Gabriel's telekinesis. _Damn it's good to be back_, a small part of Elle's mind said, as the group headed for the stairs- no elevators, just in case-... four years in the role of mommy had left her still-sadistic side a little starved for action. She had the feeling it was going to get fed quite well today. Though she wondered if she should worry about Gabriel; for her, killing had never been the result of an addiction,- though it had been fun- for him, though...

For now, he seemed fine... As fine as he could seem, all things considered anyway.

Several flights of stairs later brought them to one of the labs. Computers, shelves full of various scientific-type odds and ends; and tables stacked with crates of the formula that had caused so much trouble. Each crate was labeled; telepathy, regeneration, technopathy, super-speed, enhanced senses (hearing, sight, smell), invisibility, electrokinesis. Elle wondered how many of her kind had been captured, and later killed to acquire all of those abilities... People had once thought Sylar to be the scourge of the Specials... Then Pinehearst had to come along, and do the same thing, on a grander scale. She also wondered, briefly, if they exposed the brain, like Sylar had, or if they had found another method.

There was a loud clang as something ahead fell over. Elle snapped to attention, and saw a now-normal looking Mohinder staring wide-eyed at the group. Elle found herself wondering again; wondering what ability he'd gotten.

Not that it really mattered; he seemed too much in shock to be able to use it. "How did you-... What are you-..."

"Hey, Fightclub," she gave him a sadistic grin, knowing only he would understand what she meant, "What's your superpower?"

Without giving him time to answer, she zapped him. She wasn't sure if she killed him- she didn't really care, and it didn't really matter, since Angela's plan for the building likely meant death for anyone left inside- but at least he was down, and not able to use whatever ability he may have gotten.

"He could have told us where the boy is, " Noah seemed determined not to use little Noah's name.

"He wouldn't have... He hates us both," Gabriel replied, "And we don't have the time for a torture session." He ignored the odd looks he got from both Bennet and Peter.

"Let's go," Elle chimed in, "If Noah's not in here, he's probably with Nathan."

As they moved out, Elle could have sworn she saw Gabriel reach out and pluck something from one of the crates, and stick it in a pocket, but she put it out of her mind. There were more important things to worry about, at the moment.

------

Nathan sat at the desk he shared with Tracy- it was hers when he wasn't there- flipping through paper after paper on various candidates for various abilities. Normally Tracy handled all this, but he needed something to keep him occupied while he waited for Claire to actually get to his office with the prize he'd been after for the better part of five years.  
He'd already had Mohinder test the effects of having multiple synthetic abilities, so the moment they had replicated the boy's ability, Nathan was going to become perhaps the most powerful man in the world. After that, the notes on the ability were to be destroyed. He couldn't afford to have anyone else wandering about with the same one; that would make them a threat. Which meant, as reprehensible as it was, he was going to have to get rid of the child... Though, he doubted, no matter his personal opinion, that Claire would have had it any other way.

"Sitting at _my_ desk again?"

Nathan looked up, to see his wife standing in the doorway, holding a folder in her hands. She smiled at him, moved forward, and placed the file on the desk, "While you're doing my work for me, that's a new group of stealth units looking for invisibility, and several cops looking for lie detection."

"I'm just keeping myself busy, Trace," Nathan replied, "Claire is taking her time getting up here."

"The elevator she was on broke down," Tracy perched on the edge of the desk, "She had to be let out. She's taking the stairs the rest of the way up."

"What floor was she on?"

"The fourth."

...And they were on the thirteenth. That was a lot of stairs.

----

When they reached the tenth floor, they realized they had found the unofficial break room, and as such there was a large number of off-duty guards in between them, and the next flight of stairs. This time it was Noah and Peter that took care of things. Where Noah shot to kill, Peter shot to wound. Gabriel really didn't think that anyone left in the building would live, when Angela got to her part of things, but he wasn't going to say that to his brother. What he'd said five years before still held: Peter wasn't a killer.

Leaving the trail of human wreckage, the four moved for the next set of stairs, hoping that no one had been alerted to their presence by the gunfire. Though, if they had, at least Micah would make sure no one made it in or out of the building.

Three more floors, and they'd be to Nathan's office. Just three more floors. Gabriel had to keep repeating that in his head, because every time he stopped, he began to think that it was going to take forever to reach the right floor; that they would be too late...

---

Claire thanked whatever god there might have been that she was finally outside her father's office, and would therefore now be relieved of kid-duty. She opened the door, and dragged the brat into the room, leaving the door open for her teammates.

"Ah, there you are," said Tracy, looking up at her stepdaughter, "We were beginning to wonder if you'd fallen down a flight of stairs."

"No," Claire replied, tugging Noah forward, roughly, "The kid didn't want to move; he was slowing things down."

Noah made no attempts to hide; instead he stood in front of Claire, and gave both Nathan and Tracy the same icy glare he'd given Claire, outside. Claire half-expected the kid to tell them that they were going to die, but he remained silent, as Nathan got up from his chair, and moved to get a closer look at him. Nathan circled the boy for a moment, then looked towards Claire.

"Do you know if his ability has manifested yet?"

Claire shrugged,"I don't know. It's possible." There had been some that manifested younger... Though Claire hoped the boy's hadn't, because something about the way he'd said she was going to die...

Nathan studied his nephew for a moment longer, then, "Take him to Mohinder, have him get started immediately."

Claire nodded, and moved to grab the boy again, when the doors suddenly flew open.

----

Elle could hear faint voices as they approached Nathan's office. As they reached the door, she caught the last bit of the conversation; "Have him get started immediately." The doors weren't shut fully; though the small opening, Elle could see Claire, Nathan, Cody, Jessica, Tracy, and... _"_Noah_."_

She say Claire start to reach for Noah, likely to take him somewhere, but she never got to touch the boy, for Gabriel shoved the large double doors wide open, making everyone in the office jump, and spin to face the group that now stood in the doorway.

"Hey girls," said Elle. As the Pinehearst group had been caught off guard, the first thing Elle did was get rid of their biggest advantage: Jessica. The woman didn't get the chance to start working her mojo before a bolt of electricity hit her square in the chest , knocking her back into a wall.

Peter had his pistol aimed at Cody, hands steady, ready to fire if the man moved so much as an inch. Bennet had Claire in his sights, and Gabriel had Tracy held telekinetically by the throat... Which left Nathan.

Nathan recovered from his shock quicker than any of the others; he grabbed little Noah, as well as the gun from his daughter's hip. "Everyone just put their guns, and powers away," he said calmly, backing up behind the desk, "Or I kill the boy."

Elle started to bring up her hand, ready to shock the man, but the moment he saw her movement, he started to squeeze the trigger, pressing the weapon hard against little Noah's head, making him cry out, "I said guns, and powers away."

Claire had a sadistic smirk on her face, as if she was daring them to disobey the order. That would have just made her day, Elle knew. Gabriel was the first to relent; after giving Tracy's throat one more hard squeeze, he released her. Had it been anyone else that Nathan held, he might have risked trying to yank the gun out of the man's grip, but with was much pressure as Nathan was already putting on the trigger, that could easily have caused the gun to go off. And with the muzzle pressed right against Noah's head, there wouldn't be enough time to stop the bullet...

Elle reluctantly let her sparks die out, though her loathing glare stayed locked on Nathan, and she suddenly found herself wishing that she could kill someone just by looking at them.

Peter was next, lowering the gun, but not holstering it. But Bennet kept his trained on Claire, whom still wore that smirk.

"C'mon, dad," she sneered, "Better put it away. You don't want anyone to get hurt, do you?"

Elle wasn't really sure what happened next, but in a quick blur, Bennet suddenly had Claire's arm twisted around her back, and the gun pressed against the back of her head, "Let the boy go," said Bennet, "Shoot him, and I shoot her."

_Go Glasses!_ Elle mentally cheered. But Nathan's grip on little Noah didn't slacken... Instead, it tightened, "You'd kill our daughter, to save him, after what his parents have done?"

"I've done it before," Bennet spat, "I can do it again."

Elle knew Glasses well enough to know when he was bluffing; and for the moment, he was only half-bluffing. He would kill Claire, if it was absolutely necessary, but he would prefer that he be spared the task.

"Do it," Nathan shrugged, "Remove the bullet, and she heals, and I have my child back, and they've lost theirs."

Bennet didn't get the chance to reply before Claire brought a booted heel down hard on his feet. To his credit, he didn't let go because of the old foot-stomping trick; he let go because Claire yanked her own arm out of socket, spun around, and sucker-punched him in the stomach.

After that it was chaos. Cody went after Peter, Claire continued to beat on Bennet, and Tracy came after Gabriel. It might have been an easy fight, if not for the appearance of several guards... Things had certainly gotten interesting.

----

Little Noah watched from where he was being held, eyes glued to all the fighting. The dark-haired woman- Claire- had taken Grandpa Noah's gun, but she wasn't using it... She was still hitting him. His father was trying to deal with several guards at once, while his mother tried to shock the ice lady- Tracy- who kept managing to dodge. Uncle Peter was losing his fight with the tall man. Little Noah tried to force the flashes to come, so he could see what was going to happen, but he got nothing. Regardless, he kept trying, screwing up up his face in concentration, hoping for even the smallest glimpse of what was going to happen.

A scream distracted him from his task; his mother was clutching her thigh, blood pouring from between her fingers.

"Elle!" his father called.

"I'm fine!" she replied, not taking her eyes away from Tracy.

Little Noah's attention wandered to Grandpa Noah, and Claire. That was when he got what he'd been hoping for; one of the flashes. In it he saw Claire shoot Grandpa Noah in the shoulder, then turn, and shoot his father several times in the back of the head, while he was distracted by a guard. There was where it ended, but when he was back to seeing the present, and not the future, he saw Claire raising the gun, and squeezing the trigger.

Noah wasted no time. Before the gun went off, he twisted his head, latched on to the thumb of the hand that Nathan had gripping his shoulder with his teeth, and bit down hard. Nathan let out a surprised yelp, and jerked his hand away. The yelp was drowned out by the gunfire, and Grandpa Noah's shout. The moment that he was free, Noah bolted, heading for his father.

"Daddy!"

----

Gabriel heard Bennet yelling, but didn't have the time to look and see what was happening. He was trying to even out the numbers, so it was more of a fair fight. What he did hear, over all the noise, was his son's voice.

"Daddy!"

Gabriel turned; the first thing he saw was Claire aiming her stolen weapon at him. The second was Noah, running as fast as he could across the room, calling for him. Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw Claire adjust her aim, grinning.

The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion.

Gabriel moved forward, half-knelt, arms outstretched, to grab Noah, and pull him out of harms way. Claire, still with the smirk on her face squeezed the trigger once. Twice. Three times. There was a spray of blood, then the pain of the first impact in his shoulder. Noah fell into his arms. An alarm went off in his head, but he couldn't quite figure out why. The second bullet hit his other shoulder, as he turned away from Claire, to shield his son from the bullets. The third hit him in back. Gabriel clenched his teeth, as he heard Claire continue to fire, some hit some missed, but he didn't keep count. He had Noah protected, and that was what mattered.  
Why then, was the alarm still sounding in his mind?

He replayed the events in his brain, ignoring the feeling of the blood soaking the front of his shirt- _but I was hit in the shoulders, and back....-_ and then he realized... He'd seen the blood before he'd felt the bullet hit.

_No...no, please God, no..._

The click of the empty gun let him know it was momentarily safe to loosen his grip on his son. But something was wrong... Noah wasn't moving... Gabriel looked down at the boy who had been his entire world since the moment he was born, and his mind refused to acknowledge that was he was seeing was real. Because it couldn't have been real. It _couldn't_ have been. It wasn't possible that he was seeing what he was seeing. But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, the sight wouldn't change. Noah was still hanging limply in his arms, blood staining his chest, where the bullet had passed all the way through his tiny frame, only to hit Gabriel.

----

Elle stood stock still, like everyone else in the room, staring at Gabriel and Noah. "No." The word came out in a whisper, when she saw Noah's limp form.

Gabriel stared wide-eyed at the boy, "Noah," his voice cracked, as he shook his son, brushing a bloody hand through his hair, kissing his forehead, trying everything he could to get the boy to wake up.

"No-oo," this time it was more a groan that came from Elle. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think; not about anything except the scene before her.

"Noah..." it was only the second time in the six years that she had known her husband that Elle had ever seen him cry, "Noah... Noah..." He kept repeating the name over and over again.

Elle's mind was screaming at her to do something, but still she couldn't move. _My baby... Please, no.... No. No. No! No!! NO!_ she didn't realize she'd started screaming aloud. "NO! _NO!!_** NO!!!**" She didn't notice that Tracy was suddenly knocked back into a wall by a current of electricity, as she ran for her husband, and her son. She skidded to halt, and practically fell to her knees next to them. But still Noah did not move, did not breathe.

The electricity that she generated stung her face, because of the tears, but she didn't notice. The pain from the bullet in her thigh was gone, as well. Every part of her was numb, every emotion had shut down save for one: sheer and utter fury. Electric blue eyes locked on Claire, whom stood with a smug smile glued on her face. _She killed him... She killed him. She killed my baby...._

"I'll kill her," Elle muttered, as she shoved herself to her feet, "I'll kill you, you bitch!" she screamed at Claire. She let everything she had loose, causing even can't-feel-any-pain Pom Pom to scream, "I swear to God I'LL FUCKING _KILL YOU_, **YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!**" Her shouts increased in volume with every word, as she poured every ounce of her energy into making Claire suffer, and suffer she did, before Elle could finally do no more, and she collapsed- somehow into Gabriel's arms- sobbing.

----

Gabriel laid Noah gently on the floor when Elle stood. He heard her screaming, heard Claire too, but he only turned to look as Elle finally ran out of power. He was on his feet, and behind her before she collapsed, and he caught her, keeping her from hitting the floor. He lowered her carefully, and she curled into a ball, body shaking from exhaustion, and the sobs. All eyes were on him, waiting to see what he was going to do. But he didn't have to move, or even make a threatening gesture to do what he wanted to... Anyone left in the room with guns still in their hands suddenly found that their arms had moved of their own accord, and their weapons were now aimed at their own heads.

He noticed, with disappointment, that Elle's attack had made Claire drop her weapon, and that Nathan had dropped his as well. Oh well. As Gabriel smirked a smirk that before only Sylar had used, all the hands he now had control of pulled the triggers, and with a deafening roar, each gun went off. Several loud thuds followed as each body fell to the floor. Gabriel ignored the blood that now ran from his nose, from the effort controlling so many things at once had taken, because damn did hearing the dull thud of those bodies feel good...

He didn't care if it killed him, he was going to make sure they _all_ payed for what they'd done to Noah... His Noah. Elle's Noah... Like Elle, the only thing he felt right then was the anger; the need for revenge.

As he turned to face Nathan, and Claire, that old familiar lust for blood, for power set in. He had them both against the wall in a second. He ignored Claire, but Nathan... One hand came up in that oh-so familiar position, and he started to slice the skin of his brother's forehead, savoring the scream that Nathan let out.

He'd sworn to never do this again... But Elle would forgive him, for this one slip.

Besides, Nathan was the reason Noah now lay dead a few feet away. A four-year-old boy murdered because his uncle wanted to rule the world.

Yes, he deserved what he was getting.

So absorbed was he in making sure that he killed Nathan properly, he didn't hear Peter's warning shout.

The last thing he saw before something slammed into the back of his head was Elle, having crawled across the floor, with Noah in her arms. _I'm sorry, baby... I'm so sorry_. After that, everything went black.

* * *

1) Please don't hurt me *ducks* just wait! The story's not over yet!

2) Claire cheats (popping her arm out of socket, to get away from daddy dearest)... and I SO want to kill her.

3) See why I'm a sadistic and cruel person, and need to be shot?... Of course, that doesn't mean I WANT to be.

4) Poor Elle... Always getting shot. She's going to turn into Izzy, from the Mummy 2. "Every time I'm with you, I get shot! Last time I got shot in the ass! I'm in MOURNING for my ass!"

5)...Hehe... Dude... Sylar =P

6) Please don't kill me.

Kay... now, I fully expect to hit 100 reviews (or more) with this chapter.... so don't hesitate to rant and rave at me for making Elle and Gabe suffer like that...

...and... did I mention not to hurt me?


	14. Chapter 12

First off, I am sooooooo sorry for the wait on this one- and sorry it's not longer- but I've had a "blah" couple of days... haven't really felt like doing much other than catching up on my shows (and trust me, they were several weeks backed up, and I have 9 shows I watch on a regular basis. You do the math.)

Now, Proffy gave me a scare with her review... asked if Gabriel could have used the regen-formula he had in his pocket. I almost had a "D'oh!" moment, and thought I'd have to do some rewriting... Then I realized- and anyone else who had that thought, read carefully- you can't give abilities to, or take abilities from, a corpse. Therefore, dosing Noah with the formula would have done no good. As for them not thinking of Claire, lemme ask anyone who wondered that one question: would YOU be thinking "hey. she has magic blood, let's use it."...Not likely. You would be preoccupied with the fact that your baby was dead... Kay... rant over...

Poetz: you said before you liked Bennet/Elle bonding... there's some here, for you. As for Noah's situation: of course.

Ballet: Haha, well, I wasn't talking about Sylar's brief emergence, but, that part was fun too. I meant the fact that I had fun killing Noah =P

Blooming: Why? Because I am an evil, and cruel person, who loves nothing more than to put her characters through hell. Glad you liked Gabe and Elle's reactions.

Cat: Well, yeah... but obviously, that thought wasn't coming to them at that particular moment =P

Mooses: Oh my god, I think I found my soulmate =P... Your idea for torturing Claire is so sadistic... I love it. If you'll recall, Claire DID feel it when Elle bugzapped her...

Lea:... alas, the honor of killing Claire will not be going to Peter... Peter's not a killer. I already know who is going to off the blond bitch.

for all those requesting it: Don't worry, Claire will be getting hers. Also... the reference to a past cake incident, in this chapter, is based on a true event... only, it was my first birthday, not third, and my mother wasn't scolding my dad: she was laughing along with him.

* * *

Chapter 12

**Angela Petrelli & Micah Sanders  
Primatech**

Angela stood over Micah's shoulder, watching the events in Pinehearst, and using words to curse the situation that would have made a sailor blush. Not that it really surprised Micah; she may have had the vast majority of the public fooled into thinking that she was a loving grandmother-type, but not anyone who worked for her. Anyone who worked for her knew that she was just a damn good actress. Actually, anyone who knew her personally knew that little fact.

"They still don't realize I have control of the system, Mrs. P," Micah informed her, "I can keep the feed going if you want."

"Please do," Angela sighed, "And when they get put wherever Nathan's putting them, let them out. I need to think of a way to salvage the situation."

Micah didn't really see how she planned on doing that; her two best weapons had just lost their reason for fighting, Bennet was injured, and Peter was nothing but bruises after his tangle with Cody. "At least Mr. Petrelli can't get that ability, now," the teenager muttered under his breath.

Angela apparently heard him, and scoffed, "Nathan isn't going to let this setback stop him. In fact, it's probably helped him."

Micah raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, shook his head, then went back to watching the monitors. "Aw, _shit_," he swore, seeing what was happening.

"What?"

Micah held up a finger, signaling her to hold on for a second, then, with a few tapped keys on the keyboard, had an image of one of the cells on the larger central monitor, "This. I know you said when they were put wherever to let them out, but I _can't_. There's nothing electronic about that one, except for the camera, and the audio... And the light fixture, I suppose... But the door? No way I can open it. You'd have to get someone else in there..."

Angela sighed heavily, rubbing her temple with one hand, "Is there any way you can speak to them, with what you've got?"

"I could, but it would take a while to trick the system into thinking it's actually supposed to broadcast sound, instead of record it... It's a damned old system, and stubborn as hell..." Micah had long since learned that machines, much like people, got cranky with age.

"Do it... I have an idea, but it may take a while to get going-" Angela stopped suddenly, narrowed her eyes, and leaned closer to the screen, "Where's Peter?"

"I... I don't know," Micah hadn't even realized that the youngest Petrelli was missing. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he scanned each of the smaller monitors, looking for the man. He found him, in one of the labs, strapped to a table.

"Damn it," Angela muttered, "Now I know why Nathan's keeping them alive..."

* * *

**Gabriel, Elle, & Noah  
Pinehearst**

Elle sat with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around her legs, with her chin resting on her knees. Noah was standing at the door of the cell, looking out the small window- for what, Elle wasn't sure- and Gabriel lay unconscious a few feet away. Everything hurt; the bullet still lodged in her thigh, the all-over ache that came with having used so much power at once, and the bruises on her arms, where Cody had grabbed her, and torn her -kicking and screaming- away from her son.... But most of all, the slowly-sinking in knowledge that her little boy was dead hurt. She almost wished she could go back to the state of numbness that she'd been in when she'd overloaded; at least then, all she had to hold on to was the anger. She had always been better at dealing with anger than grief... When her mother had died, it had been easier to be angry with the world, than it had to actually feel sorrow- or guilt- over the loss of her mother. When her father had been murdered, it had been easier to be pissed with Sylar than to let herself grieve- not that she would have done much of it... not after what had been done to her, on her father's orders- for another lost parent.

But this time, the grief was determined to be addressed, and to make that message clear, her mind was torturing her.

Over, and over again, she saw the events in Nathan's office replayed, heard Gabriel's choked voice as he tried to make little Noah wake up, saw the smug grin on Claire's face as she achieved the revenge that she had sought for so long.

She told herself she wasn't going to cry again, wasn't going to shed another tear until she'd killed each and every Pinehearst agent that had been present in that office, until she'd found a way to really make Claire feel pain, until she had made both Claire and her father _beg_ for death. She tried to hold on to the anger, focus on the bloodlust, but amidst the bloody fantasies, other images crept into her head.

Little Noah, on his third birthday, covered in cake, and icing, because his daddy had shoved his face in it. Elle had scolded Gabriel for that, but Noah had found it to be the highlight of the day... Noah's first Christmas; he'd been completely enthralled by all the lights, and the sparkly decorations, and it had been a struggle to keep him from trying to eat the glass baubles, on the tree... Their trip to Galveston, a few months before; Noah had spent their entire stay at the beach terrorizing one poor hermit crab, because he insisted that it had stolen its shell from another crab.

All memories that, before, had made Elle smile. Now, when they were mixed with the replays of recent events, they seemed like tools meant to drive her to insanity.

Despite all her attempts to hold them in, a fresh round of tears began to fall. Elle choked back a sob as Noah- Bennet- moved from his spot by the door, and sat next to her. As Gabriel was still out cold- for which Elle envied him- the woman turned to the only other source of comfort she had; Noah. Before that mission to see how Gabriel acquired other powers, the bespectacled man had been something of a friend to her, a strange sort of father figure, one could say. He'd certainly been more honest with her than her real father ever had been... So, much to his apparent surprise, Elle let herself fall sideways against him, as she cried.

Noah hesitated for a moment, before he wrapped one arm around her in an awkward embrace. He would have used both arms, but the other was currently useless, thanks to Claire. Elle was thankful that he didn't give the "it'll be alright" speech, because she couldn't see things ever being alright again. For a long while they stayed like that; Elle with her face buried against Noah's chest, tears staining his already blood-soaked shirt, and Noah with one arm around her shaking shoulders. It was only once Elle heard Gabriel groaning as he came to, that she relieved Noah of shoulder-to-cry-on duty.

Gabriel sat up, rubbing the back of his head, looking confused. In the confusion, there was a slight glint of hope; as if he expected it all to have been a dream. Then he spotted Elle, in all her tear-stained glory, and the bit of hope was replaced with despair.

He was silent for several moments, staring at nothing, before he finally asked, "Where's Peter?"

"They took him somewhere else," Noah answered, "Before they tossed us in here."

Gabriel scanned the cell, to determine where exactly "here" was. "Elle..." he started.

"I know," she nodded, scrubbing at her face with the hem of her t-shirt. This was the same cell that Arthur had locked them in when he'd wanted Gabriel to learn to absorb powers... And unless Nathan had updated it, that meant that Micah couldn't let them out; if he was even still in control of the system.

Would Angela bother to try and get them out before she continued with her plan for the building? Or was she not going to bother, since none of their targets were dead? Had she even been watching, when little Noah had...

No... Elle refused to let herself go back down that line of thinking; not until later. Not until they were out, and away.

Sighing, and leaning back against the wall, Elle watched her husband closely. There was something in his eyes that hadn't been there in years, that quite frankly frightened her. The last time she'd seen that cold, cruel, calculating look, she had been lying on a deserted beach, slowly bleeding to death because Sylar decided he didn't like having her around. For the moment, he was still Gabriel, _her_ Gabriel; but how long would that last? Did he even want to remain in control anymore, or had his hope for a normal life died with their son? Elle silently prayed to any deity that might have chosen to listen that that wasn't the case. Even without Noah, Elle wasn't going to give up, wasn't going to just throw everything away; she only gave up hope when she lost _everything_. She had begged for death in this very cell half a decade ago because she'd had nothing left; her father was dead, she'd turned the man she loved into a homicidal maniac, her job at the Company had been taken, and even her own power had turned against her. So, she really hadn't had much to live for when she'd asked to be killed, asked for the pain to be stopped. But Gabriel had changed that.

She could survive the loss of her son; it was painful, nor would it ever _stop_ hurting, but she couldn't lose Gabriel. Not again, because that... _that_ would kill her.

* * *

**Daphne, Molly, & Daniella Parkman  
New York City**

Molly found that she couldn't do much more than simply try to keep Daniella calm, and pray that Daphne snapped out of her comatose state soon. The tiny woman that Molly had only recently began to think of as her mom was still in the same chair that Peter had placed her in, hours before, still staring blankly at the wall ahead of her, and still completely silent. Molly wasn't entirely sure that she had even been blinked since Peter had pulled her from the kitchen.

Not that the teenager could blame her foster mother; their trip to the hospital had ended on a happy note, as while Molly had been having her head stitched up, Daphne had been seeing her own doctor, and had been informed that she was pregnant again. The petite blond had been all smiles, all the way home, eager to tell Matt the news... Only, when they'd arrived, they'd discovered the house wrecked, Daniella screaming for all she was worth, and Matt... Matt, dead on the kitchen floor. Molly was really trying hard not to remember that sight, as well as trying to block the memories of her real parents, and their deaths. Her real parents murdered, one new dad gone to work for the bad guys, and now another father dead; Molly Parkman, it seemed, was always losing parents. She was beginning to wonder if she hadn't lost Daphne, as well... If the shock hadn't just caused her to snap completely.

But her mother surprised her, when her cellphone started ringing. For the first time in hours, she moved of her own free will, though it was stiff, and robotic, to answer the phone. Molly got the impression that it was habit that made her do it, and not actually having returned to her normal self.

"Hello," she croaked, as if she wasn't quite sure how to use her voice.

Molly couldn't hear what was being said on the other end, but whatever it was, it brought Daphne back to life. But, Molly wasn't entirely sure she liked the Daphne that had been brought into the light.

"Yes," said the teeny woman, through clenched teeth, a rather frightening look on her face.

Again, Molly couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but Daphne apparently liked what she was hearing, because a cruel smirk formed on her lips.

"You can get me in?.... I will... You're sure it was him?.... I accept," and without warning, she stood up, snapped her phone shut, said to Molly, "I'll be back soon, look after your sister," and then was out the door in a blur of color, leaving Molly wondering exactly what was going on.

* * *

**Gabriel, Elle, & Noah  
Pinehearst Cell Block**

Gabriel found that telekinesis could be used for a number of things; getting things that were just out of reach, choke holds, removing clothes, sawing off skulls, and now he'd discovered a new medical use; removing bullets from injured team mates.

Noah, freed of the bit of lead in his shoulder, was slumped against a wall, muttering to himself. Gabriel only managed to catch "Getting to old for this."

Elle in the meantime wasn't handling the pain as well as her former partner. It made Gabriel think back to what he'd snagged, in the lab; the dose of the formula was still in his pocket, still waiting to be used. When he'd first realized that he still had it, his first thought had been that he could have injected little Noah with it. It had only taken a few seconds to realize that it wouldn't have worked on someone that was already dead. So for now, it was useless, since now wasn't the time to ask Elle if she'd like to live forever; but he had it, in case of emergency.

But the thought of having used it on little Noah made him think of something that he _should_ have thought of before; Claire. Her blood. He knew it could bring people back from the dead, as it had done so with Bennet... and he'd gotten shot through the head, if Gabriel recalled the story correctly.

The realization that maybe there was still a chance to save his son helped to alleviate some of the... old feelings... that had been clouding his mind, since he'd woken up. The lust for power, for knowledge, for blood was creeping back on him, and he wasn't entirely sure he _wanted _to fight it off. But the hope that there was a chance for Noah eased that feeling, even if only a little.

"It's not too late yet," he muttered, not intending to speak aloud.

But he had, and Elle heard him, "What?"

Gabriel wondered for a moment what she was talking about, since he hadn't noticed that he'd said anything. When he realized he had, he answered, "For Noah... It's not too late. Claire's blood."

Realization dawned on Elle, but before she could say anything, Bennet cut in, "I know what you're thinking, Gabriel, and there's no guarantee that it will work."

Both Elle and Gabriel looked at him, curious as to why he was trying to rain on their parade, "Didn't I watch you get shot through the eye, and then come back to life?" Elle questioned him.

Noah sighed, "Yes, but I was treated immediately... If either of you ever watched anything on the medical advances that have been made because of Claire, you'd know that there are time limits... I don't know if either of you have noticed, but we're still stuck in here, and every minute that we are decreases the chance that your plan could work. And I don't see how you intend to get out."

"I think- ..can help wi-.. that," came a broken, staticy voice from unknown origins.

All three residents of the cell twitched, and looked for their visitor, but found nothing. "Hello?" Elle called.

"Thi- ..is Micah a-...Angela. Hel-...On the wa-... Will be there soon."

After that; silence. Gabriel listened for a long time, trying to hear anything else that the technopath might have had to say, but was disappointed with the results. Okay, so, help was coming. When? Who exactly was help? These ponderings prevented him from mentioning his idea again, though every now and then, when he looked at Elle, he saw a small spark of hope in her eyes. Whether this was from being told that they were to be rescued soon, or from being informed that there was a chance that little Noah could be saved, he wasn't sure. He just hoped that she wasn't let down on either front. He hoped _he_ wasn't let down on either front... But Noah had a point; Gabriel had forgotten about the time restrictions on bringing someone back from the dead, and there was no telling when, or _if_ they would be getting out. _ I wish whoever is coming would get here soon_.

As if on cue, there was a clank outside, the clank of the door being unlocked. Someone groaned with the effort that moving the heavy door took, and the three occupants were momentarily blinded by the sudden light.

Once Gabriel's vision had cleared, he got a look at their rescuer, and was, to be honest, surprised. He hadn't expected that it would be her, of all people.

Standing in the now open door was Daphne Parkman, with a hand on one him, and a strange look on her face, that might have been a smirk, if not for the pain still evident on her features, from the loss of her husband.

"So," she said, as Gabriel, Elle, and Noah got to their feet, "Angela told me you could use some help."

"We could," said Elle.

"She also said you know where to find the fucker who killed my husband."

"We do," Gabriel replied. Now he knew what the look was: not a smirk, not really... More like the look of a woman who was planning her revenge. Well, he would be perfectly happy to assist her.

* * *

**Pinehearst Lab**

"I can't believe you made me do that," Claire spat at her father, watching the pinprick from the IV needle heal.

Nathan gave her a look that said not to start, "Claire, you know this one is important... And if you hadn't gotten trigger happy, you wouldn't have had to do it."

Claire rolled her eyes, "I wasn't aiming for him, I was aiming for Sylar."

She was lying, Nathan could tell. In the last half-decade, he'd learned the signs. Rolling of the eyes was always a big indicator, "I hope you don't really expect me to buy that, Claire," another eyeroll, "Look, this is just for the duration of Suresh's work... After that, do what you want with him, shoot him again, toss him in with the rest of them, I don't care. But do not, I repeat, _do not_ go stirring up trouble with the Greys, or Bennet, if that clear?"

Claire made a "tch" sound, crossed her arms, and refused to look at Nathan.

"Claire, I said is that clear?"

Looking more than a little annoyed, Claire replied, "Crystal, sir... Anything else I'm not allowed to do?"

"Yes; stay away from Peter. I don't care about your personal vendettas at the moment, the success of this company is more important than you getting payback for all the wrongs you think have been done to you."

"_Think_!?" Oh, he'd hit a nerve now, "I don't _think_ they've done anything, I _know_. Sylar and Elle _killed _me, and my own father, and Peter took _their_ side."

"If I recall, Bennet isn't your father," Nathan snapped. Truth be told, if it hadn't been for all that, Nathan wouldn't have gotten his best agent, so really, he had to thank his brothers, Bennet, and Bishop...

Claire glared at him for a moment, then turned abruptly, her brown ponytail flinging out behind her, leaving Nathan with a still-unconscious Peter, strapped to a table, and the newly-revived Noah Grey, locked in one of the glass observation rooms. Sighing, as he looked at his bruised brother, and bloody nephew, Nathan called to Mohinder- who had burns from the shock Elle had given him- and told him to get to work.

There was a lot of it to be done, with Peter to be dealt with, and a whole jackpot of abilities waiting in the basement, just inside Gabriel's brain...  


* * *

  
You all knew it was coming =P

For anyone wondering about Noah's "too old" comment; he's like, 51-ish, now (this is based on his birthdate, on his license, in the show)

Sorry this one was so short; I'll try to get the next one up sooner than I did this one... Hopefully the "can't concentrate on anything, and perpetually BORED" days are passed, now, and I can get back to writing as usual.


	15. Chapter 13

OH.... MY.... GOD....

I am sooooooooooo so so so so so SO sorry for not having updated in all this time... It's been months. And I swore I would never be one of those authors that made people wait that long between updates. First, let me explain (in other words, excuses)... When Heroes went on hiatus, I found myself losing inspiration for writing this one. Any time I'd try, I came up blank. Then Volume 4 started, and that made things WORSE... Mostly because they are apparently trying to pretend that Elle never existed... (your mom was the only woman who ever loved you, Sylar? yeeeeeah) (and on a sidenote: YAY! Nathan's dead, Nathan's dead, Nathan's dead!.... It better stick this time). Also, things got really hectic around here for a while. It all just kinda stacked up on me, and I couldn't write.... if it makes you all feel better, I couldn't write anything ELSE either, so it wasn't just this... I lost ALL my spark, not just my Heroes spark.

...if any of you even remember what your reviews WERE, I have the replies here:

Adriana: I am glad you think I have done well, making the Killer! and Family! sides of their personalities blend together.

Lea: Sorry, no Micah/Molly... I may include a bit in the bonus chap, though...

Poetz: Your Bennet/Elle bonding love should be greatly satisfied in this one. Of course Daphne had to get a little vengeance. I look forward to your views of this chappy.

Cat: I'm glad I was able to amuse you with Angela.... And as far as your chanting goes, I think you'll be satisfied with this chapter.

Anyway, I dedicate this, the final chapter (but I'll have one full of extra goodies up right after this) to Catyuy. You all owe it to her, that this got finished when it did. Your last PM got my mind buzzing again, for some reason, Cat. I rewatched Volume 3, and then wrote all of this today, so big thanks, and many hugs.

And here we go; the beginning of the end.

* * *

Chapter 13

**Peter Petrelli**

**Pinehearst**

Peter struggled against the straps that held him in place, making the table which they held him on rattle. He had no idea what use Nathan could possibly have for him here in the lab; he had no abilities, and therefore nothing to offer the company. Unless... The idea that maybe Nathan wanted Peter's base ability- empathetic mimicry- was a valid one; perhaps Nathan intended to dose him with the formula, in the hopes that he would get his original power back, and therefore have a new power to add to Pinehearst's massive collection... Which meant Peter wasn't likely going to be able to talk his way out of this one; Nathan didn't do negotiations when a new ability was on the table. He was like Sylar, in that respect (as well as the whole stealing abilities thing, too). The idea that his eldest brother was going to kill him for an ability only made Peter struggle harder.

Had he been in top form, he might have actually managed to work himself loose; but he was all one giant bruise from head to toe, and still exhausted from the fight with Cody. Fighting someone with super-strength- when you didn't have it yourself- sucked. With a frustrated groan, Peter ceased his attempts to escape, and settled for surveying his surroundings. He was in the labs, obviously, and there were shelves filled with different types of the formula, desks covered in beakers, and microscopes, and computers. To the left were several clear-walled observation rooms; only one of which was occupied. Peter did a double-take at the occupant; Noah. Little Noah, his supposedly dead nephew. _Nathan must have had Claire bring him back_, Peter thought, watching the small boy pick at his bloody clothes, _It won't be long before he kills him again._

And that was something Peter couldn't allow, so again, he started to work at getting himself free; this time by reaching for the buckles that connected the straps to the table.

* * *

Daphne led the group out of the basement/cell block. She had offered to get them all out before she continued with her real objective- which she refused to divulge to any of them, but none had taken the opportunity. Daphne knew why; she knew the need for revenge when she saw it. Angela had filled her in on what had happened to them, to the little boy, when she'd spoken to her earlier. If there'd been any room left in her for anything but grief, and anger, she might have felt sorry for the young couple that now walked behind her.

As they came to a split in the hall, Daphne ran her instructions through her head again, before speaking, "Alright, this is where we split. I'll go take care of the resident technopath, and get up to the labs. Angela said that's where they're keeping Peter. I'll get him loose," _and take care of the bastard who killed Matt,_ "While you take care of the Petrellis."

Slow nods came in response.

"... If... If I find... The bod-... Noah," Daphne added awkwardly, "I'll bring him to you."

There was a long pause, at that. "There's still time," Elle finally said, "Claire's blood..."

Daphne nodded her understanding- and felt a new wave of anger rush over her as she realized that the same hope no longer existed for her husband. With a muttered "see ya", she was gone in a colored blur, off to take care of the pest keeping Micah from fully controlling the system.

* * *

Noah flexed the hand of his wounded arm, not liking the stiffness in his fingers one bit. He had been testing the movement since they'd gotten out of the cell, and the fact that he could now actually close his fingers all the way was due to much pain and hard work. He could only pray there wasn't any permanent nerve damage, as that would mean control of his gun-hand could go at any moment. Considering their luck that day, it would likely be at a critical moment, and they would end up right where they had been before. At least he could still walk. The same couldn't be said for Elle; she was being held up by Gabriel, hobbling along.

It reminded Noah of the day five years ago, that he had given her a similar injury, back when he would have killed for his daughter. Somehow, it felt like things had come full-circle, except instead of trying to protect Claire, he was here to kill her. He had no doubts that was what had to be done, now. He'd lost all hope of reasoning with her, and she wasn't going to _stop_ just because Nathan was dead- when they actually got around to killing him- in fact, that would just fuel her hatred for all of them even more. She'd tell the world who was behind Nathan's murder, only she'd spin it so it was an unprovoked attack. And then the war would never end. They would _all_ become fugitives.

If all of this was ever to end, it had to be that day, and everyone who might pose a threat had to be killed.

* * *

Elle only made it up four flights of stairs before her leg could take no more. She collapsed on the landing, nearly pulling Gabriel down with her. She slid down along the wall as both Gabriel and Noah knelt next to her.

"I can't make it up the rest of the way," she panted, glancing down at her leg. The bleeding had stopped, in the cell, but had started again now. With not even a makeshift bandage to keep it bottled up, the blood was pooling around her foot, "You two go on ahead, take care of Nathan," locking eyes with her husband, she added, "You get him back, Gabriel. I'll be waiting."

She saw Glasses nodding, and knew he agreed with her unspoken claim; she was just dead weight, slowing them down, increasing the chances that they would be caught again. If they were caught again, there was no hope. None for destroying Pinehearst, none for Little Noah.

Gabriel shook his head, "No, we do this together, remember?" turning her own words on her, the bastard, "Elle, I'm not leaving you here, I'm _not."_

"We have to, Gabriel," Noah cut in, looking nervously up and down the stairs,"We'll never make it in time, not with her slowing us down."

Elle stared hard at the man she'd called her husband for the past four years, silently pleading with him to let go of his stubborn streak, and just _go. _As she watched the struggle going on behind his dark eyes, she saw a realization hit him. It was like watching the gears on a faulty clock suddenly fall into place, and begin running smoothly. "She won't slow us down for long," he said in a near whisper.

Digging through his pockets, he pulled out the source of his epiphany; a vial of the formula. It was marked '_Regeneration_/_Type 3'_. Elle knew what the type 3's of any ability were. They were the ones that could be used on someone with a pre-existing ability. Regen was a popular one for "ability-stacking" as it were, because who didn't want to be indestructible _and_ have another power? Elle looked back and forth, from the vial, to Gabriel. Anyone else might have taken the time to contemplate the idea of forever. To really think about what being immortal might mean. Elle Grey wasn't anyone else. She'd wondered before what the fact that Gabriel wouldn't age, and she would meant. Now she didn't have to. So, as Gabriel silently asked her permission, Elle gave a quick nod. He seemed relieved, as he removed the cap from the needle. Before Elle could wonder if it was going to hurt, the needle was buried in her neck, and its contents rushing into her bloodstream.

It hurt. The formula burned where it entered her skin, until it felt like the flesh was going to melt. Then _everything_ was burning, and aching. Her vision blurred, and she found it hard to breathe for a moment.

Then as quickly as it had begun, it was over, and she was left panting, still slumped against the wall, head reeling. Her leg still hurt. _It didn't work._ She nearly voiced the thought, until she felt the itching. She looked down at her leg; the skin was knitting its self back together.... She'd thought it looked gross on _other_ people. Seeing it happen to her made her stomach churn. Still, it had worked. The pain was gone, the wound healed.

She looked back up at her companions, and gave Gabriel her first real smile since the morning Claire had kicked their door in. Without assistance, she stood, "C'mon, we need to hurry."

There would be time for testing her new ability later. For now, they had a president to murder, a niece to capture, and a son to save.

* * *

Peter had one of the buckles undone when Mohinder returned. He expected the doctor to come for him, and discover that his test subject was slowly but surely breaking out. Instead, the scientist passed the captive Petrelli, and went for the cell where Little Noah sat in a corner, glaring at anyone who had the audacity to walk by. Peter knew the look; Gabriel wore it often, when he was angry. It usually didn't bode well for anyone it was directed at. Unfortunately for Noah, he didn't have the wide range of abilities that his father did, and the looks were therefore empty threats. Mohinder opened the door, as Noah stood up. The moment the doctor stepped in- and a little out of his way- Noah bolted. Peter thought for a moment that the kid might make it, but Mohinder was faster. He caught Noah by the arm as he tried to escape.

As Mohinder dragged him out of the room, Noah finally caught sight of his uncle.

"Uncle Peter!" Peter wished more than anything he could have gotten loose right then, and done something to help the child. Because he couldn't, the call for help was torture.

The boy continued to shout for his uncle, even after Mohinder had him out of the room, and had closed the door. Peter balled his hands into fists, and ground his teeth together in frustration. He wanted to call out to his nephew, to tell him everything was gonna be alright... But he couldn't afford to draw attention to himself. If Mohinder decided to take a closer look at his restraints...

"I'm sorry Kiddo," Peter mumbled, resuming his work on the buckles, "I'll find a way to get ya outta there."

The second buckle came loose. Now he just had to get through the last four. He had the third undone, and almost the fourth when the blur rushed through the lab. It stopped just short of him, and revealed its self to be Daphne Parkman.

"Finally," she sighed, as she moved towards him, and started to undo the remaining straps, "Your mom sent me."

Finally free of his restraints, Peter sat up, and hopped off the table. He started to head for the room Mohinder had taken Noah too, but Daphne stopped him. "Wait a sec," she said, moving with lightning speed to stand in front of him, "The guy who killed Matt, Cody... Where is he?"

"I don't know," Peter tried to get around her, "I think he's with Claire."

Daphne moved again, this time out of his way, "Thanks... Where's the kid? I promised I'd get him back to his parents."

"I'll handle that," Peter replied, "I know where they took him. You go make sure everyone else is holding up okay."

"Right," before she even finished the word, she was gone, and before she was even out of sight, Peter was heading for the door Mohinder had dragged Noah through.

Trying the knob, he found it was locked. _Fine then_, he thought, taking a deep breath. Putting as much force behind it as he could, Peter kicked the door. It cracked around the knob, swung open, and slammed into the wall on the opposite side with a loud _bang_. The sound was probably what saved Noah Grey from dying a second time; it made Mohinder jerk away from the boy, before he was able to bring the scalpel he was holding any closer to the unconscious child's forehead. _Just like Sylar_, Peter remembered thinking, a long time ago. Apparently they were more like Sylar than he'd realized.

"So this is what you've come to, Mohinder?" Peter spat, as Mohinder stared at him, clearly wondering how he'd gotten loose, "Killing an innocent little boy? You used to be a good man, Mohinder..."

Mohinder recovered from his shock, and chuckled humorlessly, "You're a little late with that speech, Peter. I know what I am, and what I do."

Despite what Mohinder seemed to think, Peter had no intentions of trying to talk him into giving up his life of crime. "Just get away from my nephew, Mohinder."

"I can't do that, Peter. We've been after his ability since before he was born," Peter eyed the hand that still held the scalpel, "Too many years have been put into finding him for me to just hand him over."

Peter inched forward, looking for any possible way to get Mohinder away from Noah... Well, any possible way that didn't result in Peter himself getting stabbed, anyway. As he moved, his hand brushed across a table scattered with medical equipment.

"Don't make me hurt you," Peter warned, trying to distract the doctor, and keep him from paying too much attention to where his hand was. He found an empty syringe with a needle still attached. It wouldn't work long term, but it might buy him a few seconds to grab a better weapon... Getting a good grip on the item, Peter lunged without warning. Before Mohinder could fully raise an arm to protect himself- or possibly to bat his attacker out of the way, Peter jammed the needle into the groove where shoulder turned into neck.

Mohinder shouted- either in anger, or pain, or both- and slashed at Peter with the scalpel, catching him across the chest. Thankfully, it wasn't deep. Still hurt like a bitch, but it wasn't life threatening. Not allowing Mohinder any time to recover, Peter searched the tray the scientist had been standing next to, for a more suitable weapon. He felt Mohinder grabbing him, just as his hand latched on to the best of the selection.

He nearly dropped it when Mohinder's hand went around his throat, and started to slowly crush his windpipe. A groan from the unconscious Noah made him press the power button on the saw, despite being dizzy from lack of air. He went for the closest target; the arm attached to the hand that was choking him. There was a stomach-turning noise, as the saw-blade met with flesh, and Peter felt blood splashing him. Then there was a crunch, and a loud grinding as the blade met bone. By then, Mohinder had obviously let go. Peter gulped in lungfuls of air, dropping the saw. He heard Mohinder screaming, but tried as hard as he could to block the noise. He _certainly_ wasn't going to look at the mess. He already felt as though he was going to be sick; if he looked, he was sure he would lose the last tidbits that remained of the lunch he'd had at the Parkman's so many hours ago...

Keeping his eyes away from Mohinder, he removed the brace that had been keeping Noah's head still, and scooped the boy up. With his nephew safely in his grasp, he fled the room, sure that the sound of that saw, and Mohinder's screams were going to haunt him for a long time to come. _At least I'll live to have the nightmares..._

* * *

Gabriel, Elle, and Noah were finally back to Nathan's office. Daphne had rejoined them a moment before, and informed them that Peter had said he was going to make sure they got Little Noah back. They could hear Nathan, Claire, and several others on the other side of the doors. From what could be heard, they were trying to clean up the mess that had been made. too bad another was about to be made... And this time, there would be no capture.

Gabriel looked to each of his companions one after the other, and each nodded, to say they were ready. Elle's hands crackled with electricity, Noah cocked the gun he'd stolen from a downed guard, Daphne had her hands clenched into fists... And Gabriel... Gabriel was ready to end thing as quickly as possible. With everyone's go-ahead, he flung the door open- this time with telekinesis- for the second time that day. The moment the door was open, Daphne was off in a blur, her target the man who'd killed her husband; Cody.

Before, the occupants had been partially expecting some sort of attack. Now, they had been confident that they were perfectly safe, and as such were caught completely by surprise. This was used to the advantage of their attackers.

Elle had Tracy being pumped full of electricity before she even fully realized what was happening. Gabriel had Nathan in a telekinetic choke-hold. Noah had his gun pressed against Claire's forehead. Across the room, Daphne was using her speed to help her beat Cody into oblivion.

Tracy's screams died out moments after they had started, and her charred body dropped to the floor. Elle's lips curled into a cruel smile at the strangled noise that came from Nathan as his wife's corpse crumbled into ash. The smile got larger when she heard Claire swearing at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you actually care about her, Pom-Pom?" Elle taunted. Part of her was disgusted that she was acting as Claire had. The majority of her mind didn't care. Revenge was sweet. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it Cheerleader?"

"That's enough, Elle," Noah cut in, voice low, dangerous.

"Go on, _dad_," Claire hissed, "Shoot me. It's why you're here, isn't it?"

"We need you alive for the moment," said Elle, as Daphne's opponent collapsed, either dead, or dying.

Wheezing, the speedster surveyed the situation, "You got things handled here?" Elle nodded, "I'm gone... I... I need to get home..."

_Get home and have a good cry,_ Elle guessed, as the woman rushed out. "Now," she turned back to Claire, "We need _you_ alive. We don't need _him_." She pointed at Nathan.

Gabriel nodded at his wife, and focused his attention on Nathan, "Y'know, we could have actually been a family, Nathan..." he glanced towards his niece,_ Claire's gonna be so mad at me,_ a gleeful little voice in the back of his mind said. "Too bad..." Pulling his fingers up into that old familiar position, he released his hold on Nathan, then drew a clean straight cut across his brother's throat.

Claire screamed. Nathan struggled to breathe through the blood that was quickly filling his lungs, causing blood to gush from his mouth as well, in the process. Choking, he fell back against his office chair, then slid to the floor.

"Nathan..." someone said from the door, drawing everyone's attention.

Elle felt as though someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs. Gabriel felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. In the doorway was Peter. In his arms was little Noah, rubbing sleep-filled brown eyes with one tiny fist.

"Noah," both parents breathed, not quite believing what they were seeing. Both moved towards Peter and their boy at the same time.

Neither noticed that Noah Bennet had also been distracted, allowing Claire to slam a fist into his injured shoulder, and grab her own gun. She was firing off shots before Bennet hit the ground. Several hit, but none were fatal, even if the targets hadn't been able to heal.

Elle was the first to turn around. Claire had been faster than she'd thought. She turned to find the gun pointed right at her head. She saw Claire start to squeeze the trigger, then heard the shot. She expected everything to go black. Instead Claire's arms went slack, before her.

"Daddy..." she managed to get out, before her body sank to the carpeted floor, allowing Elle to see Bennet, whom had been standing right behind his daughter.

The two looked at each other for a moment; that was time number three Glasses had saved her life, at the expense of Claire. But this time it was permanent, and she couldn't help but wonder if Noah was regretting his decision. She thought about asking him, until he tilted his head towards the door, and she remembered why she'd almost been killed in the first place. She spun back around to the door. Peter had set Noah down, and the boy was now running at top speed for his parents. Elle ran too, and together with Gabriel, scooped her boy into a tight embrace.

Laughing, and crying at the same time, Gabriel took a moment to give little Noah a solo hug, before letting Elle do the same, then the group embrace resumed, with both raining kisses on the boy's face.

When they finally stood, Peter was there. With his son in his wife's hold, Gabriel grabbed his brother, and pulled him into a tight bear-hug. When he was free of Gabriel's grasp, Elle grabbed the poor bloody Petrelli, and kissed him soundly on the lips. She was giddy from everything; from having her son back in her arms, from the knowledge that it was finally _over_... She might have kissed Bennet, too, if she hadn't been sure he would have killed her.

As the finally reunited family moved towards the back of the room, she stopped in front of Bennet, and simply considered the best way to thank him, for a moment. Then decided that she didn't care if he wouldn't like it; she hugged him- with one arm, as she was still holding Noah. Surprisingly, the company man briefly squeezed her in return. Once they released each other, Elle joined the others around the messy desk. Peter leaned against the wall, exhausted, but smiling. Elle noticed his glance at Nathan's body, and the brief flash of grief...

Gabriel stared out the tinted windows for a moment, taking it all in. It was over. They had won. They had little Noah back. They were no longer fugitives. It was as if a ten ton weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders. Of course there was still clean-up to be done, but Angela could handle that.

He turned back to face his family. Elle was letting little Noah down, and placing herself on the edge of the desk. Gabriel caught little Noah up in his arms, and raised him high above his head, getting a giggle from the boy. It was the most wonderful sound in the world; one he'd never thought he would hear again.

Elle watched the scene before her and her smile got wider. The drawing that had made her decide she wanted a family, that she still kept in her back pocket had finally come true, after five long years. She glanced back towards Bennet; he was knelt beside Claire's body, running a hand through her hair. He looked up, and caught Elle looking at him. There were un-shed tears glistening in his eyes. Elle gave a slight jerk of her head, telling him to come join them. Bennet looked at Claire's body one more time, then got to his feet, and moved to stand next to Peter.

Gabriel sat next to Elle, allowing little Noah to go give "Grandpa Noah" a hug of his own. The once-weary watchmaker, and the once-broken angel with the broken watch stared at each other for a long moment. No words were needed; each knew what the other was thinking. He reached out, and pulled her face to his, crushing their lips together in a kiss that held all of the sorrow, hope, and joy of the last few hours, and all the hope they now had for the future.

No, they hadn't saved the world. It would take time to get all the Pinehearst labs shut down. The true saving of the world would be a long time coming. But they had saved _their_ world. And in that one moment, nothing else mattered.

**The End**

* * *

Well, I hope everyone is satisfied with that. Originally, I planned this to take place over several chapters... but I felt that if I didn't wrap things up, I might never do so. Besides, I think we've had enough fight scenes....

...and I just wanted to kill Nathan the way Sylar did in "An Invisble Thread".... I was seriously cheering when that happened....

Those last few sections were a major hug-fest, I know...

... I wrote one version of Elle and Noah's hug where she changed her mind, and kissed him anyway, but I reckoned he's better suited to her as a father figure, and kissing him would therefore be wrong =P... Peter is fair game.

coming up next is all the extra stuff. What is Extra Stuff? Extra Stuff is all the notes I have for their lives AFTER all of this, and even a few written sections that I jotted down when I was bored.


	16. Extra Stuff

Welp, here it is, the Extra Stuff... I'll just type most of it as it's scribbled down in my many notebooks. By the way, there are several show-refs in here... see if you catch them all.... Most of them are in the tidbits about Noah's life, below the timeline.

_The little quickie section that might have been in the sequel, if I'd decided to write one_.

Ever The Same  
Noah entered the house uninvited, as he always did. He was still in the gear he'd been wearing for his last assignment in California. Sometimes having someone on hand could teleport was great... Other times it made him lazy, and he therefore didn't bother to change before paying visits to people.  
The place looked the same as always: things scattered about the floor, some of the things in odd piles, that looked as though someone had started to clean up, but had decided it was a lost cause. He could see his father's desk in the room off to the right, still cluttered with watch gears, magnifying glasses, and various tools. The two resident cats were curled up asleep on the couch, in their usual spots. As he walked by them, Noah tugged their ears gently, as he had done to Fizzgig, as a child... Granted, that hadn't been at all gently.

"Mom? Dad?" Noah made his way towards the kitchen. Considering the time, they were likely there, having either breakfast, or coffee.

They were. Both Elle and Gabriel Grey were sitting at the kitchen table, looking at half-finished mugs of rapidly cooling coffee. Seeing them never lost it's effect on Noah. At fifty-four, and fifty-one respectively, his parents barely looked older than him. Immortality had it's perks. Not enough to make _him_ want to live forever, but it had it's advantages.

Before any greetings could be said, there was a loud crash, and several thuds, from the stairs. Elle closed her eyes and shook her head, sighing. Gabriel ignored the noise. Noah laughed. It wasn't a morning in the Grey household if his little sister didn't fall down the stairs. It seemed life never really changed that much.

Timeline, I had written down:

6 Months After: the Greys move back to New York. Angela tries to convince them to take the name Petrelli.

1 year after: Gabriel and Elle have a baby girl; Marie, named after Elle's mother.  
Pinehearst is finally shut down, and all traces of how to make the formula are destroyed.  
Daphne has had her second child, a boy; Matt.  
Molly starts baby sitting Noah, and Marie. Noah becomes attached to Daniella.

2 Years After: Peter and Daphne start dating.  
Angela, with the help of Noah Bennet, Gabriel, and Elle, revives the Company, completely. This brings Micah Sanders to New York, and gets him back in touch with Molly.

4 Years After: Peter and Daphne have twin girls, Angie (Angela) and Alice. (Leaving Matt the sole boy of the 5 Parkman/Petrelli children)  
Noah and Daniella are constant playmates

When Noah is 10, he begins experimenting with his ability. This often gets him into trouble. That is also the year he discovers that Danny can see dead people. Or rather, the imprints of dead people.... Around objects that person owned, or had been around often. He doesn't ask why seeing the police badge that sits on her mother's dresser makes her cry.... He remembers what happened to the man who wore it.

When he is 13, he realizes he might have a crush on his best friend.

At 16, he finally does something about it, when constant visions of the future say that eventually he will, no matter how hard he tries to resist.

At 19, he decides that since he's seen all possible roads their relationship could take, he'll propose to her. At first she laughs at him, says the idea is ridiculous. But Noah is incredibly persistent. Finally, Danny gives in, and at only 16, leaves Daniella Parkman behind, and becomes Daniella Grey... Something that she is sure slightly bothers both her mother, and step-father.

Only a few months after marrying Danny, Noah joins the Company. He wishes he could be training under Granddad Bennet, but the man- despite still being quite healthy, due a dose of his dead daughter's blood, more than 20 years before- had long-since retired, and no amount of begging would get him to change his mind.... Or so a quick peak into the future said.

At 20, Noah is a full-fledged agent, and going out on assignments. He becomes friends with one special in California, who has a memory that goes beyond even photographic. He runs a detective agency, with a friend.

He meets another in some little town who owns a pie shop, and uses his ability to heal with his touch for cooking.

When he finally gets a partner, he's afraid they won't get along. But he soon finds that he and the young woman, Beth Turner, get on quite well. He tells her right off that he's married. She informs him that's not a problem; she has a boyfriend... Something or other with an "M"...

At 21, he nearly dies, saving Beth from a drunk Pyro they'd been sent to collect. That outcome was better than his other choices: it was that, or Beth died, or he ended up all dead, not just mostly dead. He doesn't think he's ever seen his parents more worried. They've always been overprotective of him... Ever since... He doesn't remember it all that well, he just remembers blood, and screaming, and lots of crying... He remembers everything being blank for a while, until the world finally came back to him... or maybe he'd come back to the world...  
....But now the morphine was getting to him.  
A Regen who works for the company donates blood to make sure he doesn't have any burn scars.

By 22 he and Beth are considered one of the Company's top teams, equaled only by agents Dunham and Bishop.  
The best part of his day is still being able to either go home to his place, and be with Danny, or going to his parents' place, or even Uncle Peter's... Though Uncle Peter's is noisy, with 3 teenagers in the house.  
When he wants quiet, though, he gets Agent Faraday to teleport him to Costa Verde, so he can kill a few hours with Granddad Bennet, enjoying a beer, and swapping Company stories.

Life couldn't have been much better.

Wow... I expanded on those a lot XD.... Hope everyone enjoyed the extras, and I hope that you all enjoyed the story... Until next time; so long.

(Psst... to any one who didn't catch them, the show refs were Psych (the guy in Cali with super memory), Pushing Daisies (pie shop owner), Moonlight (Beth Turner, and her boyfriend with the M name... it's Mick.), Fringe (Agents Dunham and Bishop), and Lost (Agent Faraday... as in Daniel))


End file.
